An interval joint-probabilistic programming method for solid waste management: a case study for the city of Tianjin, China

Currently, environmental protection and resources conservation continue to be challenges faced by solid-waste managers in China. These challenges are being further compounded by rapid socioeconomic devel- opment and population growth associated with increased waste generation rates and decreased waste disposal capacities. In response to these challenges, an interval joint-probabilistic mixed-integer programming （IJMP） method is developed for supporting long-term planning of waste management activities in the city of Tianjin, which is one of the largest municipalities in the northern part of China. In the IJMP, joint probabilistic constraints are introduced into an interval-parameter mixed-integer programming framework, such that uncertainties presented in terms of interval values and random variables can be reflected. Moreover, a number of violation levels for the waste-management-capacity constraints are examined, which can facilitate in-depth analyses of tradeoffs among economic objective and system-failure risk. The results indicate that reasonable solutions have been generated. They are valuable for supporting the adjustment of the city＇s existing waste-management practices and the long- term planning of the city＇s waste-management facilities.     

An economic analysis of air pollution from coal-fired power plants

The benefits of air pollution control techniques on a coal-fired power plant are Simulated with a scientifically based environmental model. Air pollution abatement techniques are assessed in terms of their resource cost (measured in dollars) and their effectiveness in reducing environmental damage (measured in dollars and healthy days lost). Which air pollution techniques are most efficient depend upon how much a day of health should be valued. Other factors of potential interest such as uncertainty and equity are also simulated through the model. The paper demonstrates that scientific evidence can be organized around economic principles in order to develop more rational and effective environmental policies.     

The effects of direct and indirect constraints on biological communities

Human activities are expected to result in a diversity of directional or stochastic constraints that affect species either directly or by indirectly impacting their resources. However, there is no theoretical framework to predict the complex and various effects of these constraints on ecological communities. We developed a dynamic model that mimics the use of different resource types by a community of competing species. We investigated the effects of different environmental constraints (affecting either directly the growth rate of species or having indirect effects on their resources) on several biodiversity indicators. Our results indicate that (i) in realistic community models (assuming uneven resource requirements among species) the effects of perturbations are strongly buffered compared to neutral models; (ii) the species richness of communities can be maximized for intermediate levels of direct constraints (unimodal response), even in the absence of trade-off between competitive ability and tolerance to constraints; (iii) no such unimodal response occurs with indirect constraints; (iv) an increase in the environmental (e.g., climatic) variance may have different effects on community biomass and species richness.     

Anti-diffusion and source identification with the ‘RAW’ scheme: A particle-based censored random walk

This paper presents a novel methodology for time reversal in advective-diffusive pollutant transport in groundwater systems and other environmental flow systems (specifically: time reversal of diffusive terms). The method developed in this paper extends previous particle-based approaches like the Reversed Time Particle Tracking Method of Bagtzoglou [6]. The reversal of the ‘diffusive’ and/or ‘macrodispersive’ component of pollutant migration is especially under focus here. The basis of the proposed scheme for anti-diffusion is a continuous time, censored, non-local random walk capable of tracking groundwater solute concentration profiles over time while conserving the (reverse) Fickian properties of the anti-diffusing particle cloud in terms of moments. This scheme is an alternative to the direct solution of the eulerian concentration-based diffusion PDE, which is notoriously unstable in reverse time. Our analysis leads to the conclusion that an adaptive time stepping scheme—with decreasing time step—is necessary in order to maintain a constant amount of anti-diffusion (the reverse form of Fick’s law). Specifically, we study the relations between the following parameters: time step evolution vs. time (or vs. number of steps); variance evolution (decrease rate); total time (or number of steps) required to reach a fully anti-diffused solution. The proposed approach is shown to be quite efficient; typically, for every ten time steps, one to two orders of magnitude reduction of the dispersion width of the plume can be attained. Furthermore, the method is shown to be asymptotically exact for reverse Fickian diffusion. The method is applied with success to several situations involving the diffusive transport of a conservative solute in the following cases: (i) Single source recovery in one-dimensional space with constant diffusion parameters (this example serves as a validation test for the theory); (ii) Single source recovery in two-dimensional space with constant isotropic diffusion (this example also serves as a test for the theory); (iii) Multiple source recovery in two-dimensional space, assuming isotropic diffusion. It is expected that the methodology tested in this paper is applicable more generally to complex environmental pollution problems involving multiple sources, anisotropic hydrodynamic dispersion, and space-time variable advection-diffusion flow systems; the modeling of reverse diffusion/dispersion in such systems is currently under investigation.     

Guidelines for Systematic Review in Conservation and Environmental Management

Abstract:  An increasing number of applied disciplines are utilizing evidence-based frameworks to review and disseminate the effectiveness of management and policy interventions. The rationale is that increased accessibility of the best available evidence will provide a more efficient and less biased platform for decision making. We argue that there are significant benefits for conservation in using such a framework, but the scientific community needs to undertake and disseminate more systematic reviews before the full benefit can be realized. We devised a set of guidelines for undertaking formalized systematic review, based on a health services model. The guideline stages include planning and conducting a review, including protocol formation, search strategy, data inclusion, data extraction, and analysis. Review dissemination is addressed in terms of current developments and future plans for a Web-based open-access library. By the use of case studies we highlight critical modifications to guidelines for protocol formulation, data-quality assessment, data extraction, and data synthesis for conservation and environmental management. Ecological data presented significant but soluble challenges for the systematic review process, particularly in terms of the quantity, accessibility, and diverse quality of available data. In the field of conservation and environmental management there needs to be further engagement of scientists and practitioners to develop and take ownership of an evidence-based framework.     

Capacity building in tropical coastal resource monitoring in developing countries: A re-appreciation of the oldest remote sensing method

Long-term decadal retrospection in spatio-temporal imagery analyses can only be carried out using aerial photographs, which are still the most detailed remotely sensed data available. Visual interpretation of such imagery is most efficient and inexpensive in the light of ecosystem monitoring research in developing countries, which are often unable to cope with the development or the cost of acquisition of commercial space-borne imaging (e.g. IKONOS, Quickbird). In this light, the present paper explicitly analyses the methodological use of image attributes of air-borne imagery from mangrove forests, and investigates the consistency and constraints of mangrove image attributes in visually interpreted air-borne imagery. Six image attributes are analysed, and their application is illustrated using various mangrove sites in Kenya and Sri Lanka. Comparison of identification keys reveals that minor attributes such as 'ecological position' are informative, and that image attributes for a particular species or genus are apparently less plastic and more widely applicable than formerly assumed. Emphasis on compulsory fieldwork is made and constraints related to reflection and interference, amongst others, are discussed.     

化学-生物絮凝污水处理工艺中微生物群落结构变化分析

利用分子生物学技术，直接从化学-生物絮凝工艺的活性污泥样品中提取DNA，对16S rDNA V3区进行PCR扩增，结合DGGE（变性浓度梯度凝胶电泳），分析了活性污泥中微生物群落结构，并对Shannon多样性指数进行分析讨论，通过研究指出系统中细菌数量的增加或减少．测定了活性污泥中部分菌种的16S rDNA V3区片段序列，通过NCBI（美国国立生物技术信息中心）基因库比对，初步确定细菌的属．结果表明，PCR—DGGE结合测序技术是一种完全可行的快速进行环境样品微生物研究的分析方法．图3表4参13     

The Impact of Economics on Environmental Policy

Environmental economists have seen their ideas translated into the rough-and-tumble policy world for over two decades. They have witnessed the application of economic instruments to several environmental issues, including preserving wetlands, lowering lead levels, and curbing acid rain. This essay examines the impact of the rise of economics in the policy world on the making of environmental policy. I focus on two related, but distinct phenomena—the increasing interest in the use of incentive-based mechanisms, such as tradable permits, to achieve environmental goals; and the increasing interest in the use of analytical tools such as benefit–cost analysis in regulatory decision making.I argue that economists and economic instruments have had a modest impact on shaping environmental, health, and safety regulation, but that economists will play an increasingly important role in the future. Although the role of economics is becoming more prominent, it does not follow that environmental policy will become more efficient. This apparent inconsistency can be explained by the political economy of environmental policy.     

An evaluation of procedures for the digestion of soils and vegetation from areas with metalliferous pollution

Various digestion or extraction processes are available for the determination of trace metals in environmental samples using diverse analytical techniques. Our research examines the most efficient and reproducible methods of digestion utilising readily available laboratory equipment, reagents and instrumentation. Extraction procedures reported in over 80 recent research works were considered and the most common methods were critically evaluated. Thus nitric acid, nitric acid/perchloric acid, aqua regia, nitric acid/hydrogen peroxide and microwave-assisted methods were investigated using soil and leaf samples collected adjacent to three old metalliferous workings. Analysis was carried out using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry and the results were evaluated. Differences in efficiency of extraction relative to specific metals and different substrates are highlighted and recommendations made for a digestion procedure suitable for environmental samples. Aqua regia produced the most accurate, efficient and reproducible results; we consider methods of improving both of these factors and sample preparation. Our recommended methodology has applications in environmental surveys, environmental geology, environmental toxicology, geochemistry and provides a means of obtaining meaningful and reliable results for the determination of metals present in soils, minerals and vegetation.     

Critical environmental indicators: performance indices and assessment models for sustainable rural development planning

Sustainable development planning must be based on environmental and biophysical baseline indices that effectively define comparative development potential and environmental constraints. As such, indices must define the comparative advantage of the natural resource base and measure the fundamental capacity to sustain production rates of natural resource goods and services used to create societal well being. Complex biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics affect the identification and selection of sustainable development strategies. When derived from effective baseline indicators, indices may be used to define the spatial and temporal distribution of economically viable production opportunities and may be expressed in derived indices that realistically describe basic production opportunities and guide the selection of feasible, long-term development strategies. Specifically, representative indices are critical in the identification of development goals and realistic objectives and can be used to evaluate, select and implement sustainable development strategies and plans. It is stressed that the relevancy and effectiveness of public policies depend on the identification of representative evaluation models and baseline indices to define development strategies that are both environmentally sustainable and economically viable. In this context, the role of baseline indicators that define natural resource production capacities is discussed. This includes potential resource uses, derived benefits and their economic and environmental impacts. Key thematic indicators are suggested that may be especially useful in identifying development alternatives and impacts. This suggested that clearly defined environmental pollution limits or impact standards be used to define public risk tolerance limits and carrying capacity constraints. It is argued that these measures may be more effective in directing policy choices than economic valuation of non market goods and services that represent environmental externalities associated with resource exploitation options and economic development strategies. To this end, examples of thematic indicators and derived indices are introduced that may prove effective in resource assessment, economic evaluation and strategic development planning.     

Prevention and cleanup of dynamic harm under environmental liability

This paper explores incentives for accident prevention and cleanup when firms are subject to environmental liability. In our two-period setup, the level of environmental harm in the second period depends on first-period harm when cleanup was incomplete. Under strict liability, in the first period, firms with a positive probability of going out of business before the second period have inadequate prevention and cleanup incentives. The fundamental disconnect between private incentives and social optimality cannot be remedied by using a multiple of harm as the level of compensation. Under negligence with a causation requirement, incentive problems remain; however, under negligence without such a requirement, first-best incentives may emerge, and using a multiple of harm as the level of compensation can ensure the efficient solution.     

Comparative analysis using EIA for developed and developing countries: case studies of hydroelectric power plants in Pakistan,Norway and Sweden

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is an important legislative and scientific tool that may assist and improve the quality assistance for the decision-making process in sustainable development. Here, a comparison of EIAs from three cases of hydropower projects in Pakistan, Norway and Sweden is reported. A huge difference concerning the incorporation of environmental considerations into the decisionmaking process between developed and developing countries is observed. The EIA system of Pakistan appears to be less efficient in the application and review process. In addition, the appraisal of issues, the decision-making process and evaluation through post-monitoring is not as well performed in Pakistan as in cases of hydroelectric power plants in Sweden and Norway. The key reason for this shortcoming is misconceptions about the EIA process, which initially receives intense attention but becomes weakened by the time of implementation. This implies that there is a need to adopt simplified and flexible EIA techniques suitable for the infrastructure and resources of a specific country, taking into account institutional, technical and financial constraints. Improvements are required in public participation, awareness, as well as in environmental control and data system sectors in Pakistan, besides simply enacting legislation to achieve the goals of the EIA system.     

Time constraints mediate predator-induced plasticity in immune function, condition, and life history

The simultaneous presence of predators and a limited time for development imposes a conflict: accelerating growth under time constraints comes at the cost of higher predation risk mediated by increased foraging. The few studies that have addressed this tradeoff have dealt only with life history traits such as age and size at maturity. Physiological traits have largely been ignored in studies assessing the impact of environmental stressors, and it is largely unknown whether they respond independently of life history traits. Here, we studied the simultaneous effects of time constraints, i.e., as imposed by seasonality, and predation risk on immune defense, energy storage, and life history in lestid damselflies. As predicted by theory, larvae accelerated growth and development under time constraints while the opposite occurred under predation risk. The activity of phenoloxidase, an important component of insect immunity, and investment in fat storage were reduced both under time constraints and in the presence of predators. These reductions were smaller when time constraints and predation risk were combined. This indicates that predators can induce sublethal costs linked to both life history and physiology in their prey, and that time constraints can independently reduce the impact of predator-induced changes in life history and physiology.     

Cement industry: sustainability, challenges and perspectives

Cement-based materials, such as concrete and mortars, are used in extremely large amounts. For instance, in 2009 concrete production was superior to 10 billion tons. Cement plays an important role in terms of economic and social relevance since it is fundamental to build and improve infrastructure. On the other hand, this industry is also a heavy polluter. Cement production releases 5–6% of all carbon dioxide generated by human activities, accounting for about 4% of global warming. It can release huge amounts of persistent organic pollutants, such as dioxins and heavy metals and particles. Energy consumption is also considerable. Cement production use approximately 0.6% of all energy produced in the United States. On the other hand, the chemistry underlying cement production and its applications can be very helpful to overcome these environmental issues. In terms of manufacture, there are many alternative materials that can be used to minimize carbon dioxide production and reduce energy consumption, such as calcium sulfoaluminates and β-Ca₂SiO₄—rich cements. Using residues from other industrial sectors can also improve the sustainability of cement industry. Under adequate conditions, waste materials such as tyres, oils, municipal solid waste and solvents can be used as supplementary fuel in cement plants. Concrete can be used for encapsulation of waste materials such as tyres, plastics and glasses. In this review, we discuss some aspects of the cement industry associated with environmental science. Other issues such as economic aspects, the chemistry of cement manufacture and its properties are also presented. Special attention is given to the role that cement chemistry can play in terms of sustainability. The most relevant aspects are outlined, such as the use of alternative materials, new possibilities and also the recycling of materials. It is also argued that an important aspect is the role of research and development necessary to improve cement sustainability.     

Statistical hypothesis testing formulations for U.S. environmental regulatory standards for ozone

Environmental regulatory standards are intended to protect human health and environmental welfare. Current standards are based on scientific and policy considerations but appear to lack rigorous statistical foundations and may have unintended regulatory consequences. We examine current and proposed U.S. environmental regulatory standards for ozone from the standpoint of their formulation and performance within a statistical hypothesis testing framework. We illustrate that the standards can be regarded as representing constraints on a percentile of the ozone distribution, where the percentile involved depends on the defined length of ozone season and the constraint is stricter in regions with greater variability. A hypothesis testing framework allows consideration of error rates (probability of false declaration of violation and compliance) and we show that the existing statistics on which the standards are based can be improved upon in terms of bias and variance. Our analyses also raise issues relating to network design and the possibilities of defining a regionally based standard that acknowledges and accounts for spatial and temporal variability in the ozone distribution.     

Environmental policy and human capital inequality: A matter of life and death

This paper analyzes the economic implications of an environmental policy when we account for the life expectancy of heterogeneous agents. In a framework in which everyone suffers from pollution but health status also depends on individual human capital, we find that the economy may be stuck in a trap in which inequality rises steadily, especially when the initial pollution intensity of production is too high. We emphasize that such inequality is in the long run costly for the economy in terms of health and growth. Therefore, we study whether a tax on pollution associated with an investment in pollution abatement can be used to address this situation. We show that a stricter environmental policy may allow the economy to escape from the inequality trap while enhancing the long-term growth rate when the initial inequality in human capital is not too large.     

Cluttered habitats reduce wing asymmetry and increase flight performance in European starlings

Fluctuating asymmetry is a measure of developmental instability and results from both genomic and environmental influences. Levels of asymmetry are (in part) influenced by mechanical constraints, as asymmetry is believed to reduce efficiency. Here we have investigated the influence of habitat structure (“open” and “cluttered” environments) on primary flight feather asymmetry and flight performance in European starlings. Our findings indicate that the increased flight demands of cluttered habitats act to reduce primary asymmetry and increase flight performance. These data are discussed in terms of the influence of asymmetry on flight performance and the mechanisms that give rise to asymmetry. This study also presents a novel method, i.e., examining within-individual changes in asymmetry, by which the detrimental and positive influence of the environment could be studied in subsequent field and laboratory studies without confounding environmental effects with genomic influences. Received: 16 June 1997 / Accepted after revision: 28 December 1997     

荧光传感器阵列检测农药污染物研究进展

农药的滥用已造成严重的环境污染,因此开发高效、简便和灵敏的农药检测技术是环境科学领域的研究焦点.荧光传感检测因其灵敏度高,检出限低,操作简单,成本低,目前已逐渐成为农药快速定量检测的一个发展方向.然而,在真实样品检测环境中,污染物不是单独存在的,常伴随结构或化学性质上与待检测分析物相似的污染物进行干扰.而基于阵列的荧光...