Genetically Modified (GM) Crops: Precautionary Science and Conflicts of Interests

Risk governance of GM plants and GMfood products is presently subject to heatedscientific and public controversies. Scientistsand representatives of the biotechnologyindustry have dominated debates concerningsafety issues. The public is suspicious withregard to the motives of scientists, companies,and political institutions involved. Thedilemmas posed are nested, embracing valuequestions, scientific uncertainty, andcontextual issues. The obvious lack of data andinsufficient information concerning ecologicaleffects call for application of thePrecautionary Principle (PP). There are,however, divergent opinions among scientistsabout the relevance of putative hazards,definition of potential ``adverse effects,' andwhether actions should be taken to preventharm. The reliance on the concept ofsubstantial equivalence in safety evaluation ofGM food is equally controversial. Consequently,value assumptions embedded in a scientificframework may be a barrier for employment ofthe PP. One of our major conclusions is thatprecautionary GMP usage requires riskassessment criteria yet undeveloped, as well asbroader and more long-term conceptions of risk,uncertainty, and ignorance. Conflicts ofinterest and public participation are otherissues that need to be taken intoconsideration. GMP governance regimes that arejustifiable from a precautionary and ethicalpoint of view must transcend traditionalscientific boundaries to include alternativescientific perspectives as well as publicinvolvement.     

Landscape consequences of aggregation rules for functional equivalence in compensatory mitigation programs

Mitigation and offset programs designed to compensate for ecosystem function losses due to development must balance losses from affected ecosystems with gains in restored ecosystems. Aggregation rules applied to ecosystem functions to assess site equivalence are based on implicit assumptions about the substitutability of functions among sites and can profoundly influence the distribution of restored ecosystem functions on the landscape. We investigated the consequences of rules applied to the aggregation of ecosystem functions for wetland offsets in the Beaverhill watershed in Alberta, Canada. We considered the fate of 3 ecosystem functions: hydrology, water purification, and biodiversity. We set up an affect‐and‐offset algorithm to simulate the effect of aggregation rules on ecosystem function for wetland offsets. Cobenefits and trade‐offs among functions and the constraints posed by the quantity and quality of restorable sites resulted in a redistribution of functions between affected and offset wetlands. Hydrology and water purification functions were positively correlated with one another and negatively correlated with biodiversity function. Weighted‐average rules did not replace functions in proportion to their weights. Rules prioritizing biodiversity function led to more monofunctional wetlands and landscapes. The minimum rule, for which the wetland score was equal to the worst performing function, promoted multifunctional wetlands and landscapes. The maximum rule, for which the wetland score was equal to the best performing function, promoted monofunctional wetlands and multifunctional landscapes. Because of implicit trade‐offs among ecosystem functions, no‐net‐loss objectives for multiple functions should be constructed within a landscape context. Based on our results, we suggest criteria for the design of aggregation rules for no net loss of ecosystem functions within a landscape context include the concepts of substitutability, cobenefits and trade‐offs, landscape constraints, heterogeneity, and the precautionary principle.     

基于“国家公顷”模型的福建省2012年生态足迹分析

生态足迹是分析和评价国家或地区可持续发展的重要指标。为更加准确地核算小尺度生态足迹,修正了传统生态足迹模型中的均衡因子与产量因子,运用"国家公顷"生态足迹模型,对福建省2012年的生态足迹进行计算。结果表明,福建省2012年的人均生态足迹为1.155372nhm2,人均生态赤字为0.806598nhm2。福建省的人口消费需求超过了自然生态系统的承载能力,可持续发展状况不容乐观。     

张家口地区生态可持续性评价研究

张家口市生态环境比较脆弱。经济上属于河北省落后地区，且近邻首都北京，因此它的发展不断引起人们的关注。本文选用了由加拿大生态学家Rees和Wackenagel等提出的生态足迹模型，对张家口地区进行可持续发展的定量测算。结果表明：张家口市自1990年到2000年一直处于不可持续状态，且人均生态赤字呈逐年增大的趋势。针对这种情况，本文提出全面发展精细农业、促进工业升级以及以“人”为本的区域发展对策。     

硅橡胶自然环境加速试验方法与自然环境试验方法等效性研究

目的研究自然环境加速试验方法与自然环境试验方法的等效性。方法针对6141硅橡胶,在高原、沙漠、湿热三个自然环境条件下,采用玻璃框、黑箱、强制通风玻璃框、单轴跟踪太阳4种已有自然环境加速试验装置,开展4种自然环境加速试验方法与户外暴露自然环境试验方法的对比试验,运用图形与秩和检验法分析不同自然环境加速试验方法与自然环境试验方法的等效性。结果在高原、沙漠、湿热三个典型环境条件下,采用6141硅橡胶对比开展的玻璃框、黑箱、强制通风玻璃框、单轴跟踪太阳4种自然环境加速试验与三个典型环境条件下的户外暴露试验中,其拉伸强度服从同一性能变化规律。结论在高原、沙漠、湿热三个典型环境条件下,开展的6141硅橡胶玻璃框、黑箱、强制通风玻璃框、单轴跟踪太阳4种自然环境加速试验与三个典型环境条件下的户外暴露试验具有等效性。     

渐变型多孔介质中低浓度瓦斯燃烧特性数值模拟

利用模拟软件Fluent6.3建立二维模型并进行合理设置,对多孔介质中的煤矿低浓度瓦斯燃烧进行数值模拟,研究了均匀型和渐变型燃烧器中的温度分布和NOx生成情况,以及三种不同渐变型多孔介质组合燃烧器中的温度分布和NOx生成情况。结果表明,渐变型多孔介质燃烧器的温度分布比均匀型燃烧器更加均匀;同一瓦斯当量比和流速下,渐变型多孔介质燃烧器的NOx产生量比均匀型燃烧器低很多,有利于减少污染物排放;三种不同渐变型多孔介质组合的温度分布和NOx生成有着不同特点,燃烧器设计时,可根据不同需求选取不同组合形式,综合考虑各因素,组合一燃烧特性最佳。     

On the hydro-dispersive equivalence between multi-layered mineral barriers

In the context of municipal solid waste and hazardous waste disposal, the notion of "equivalence" between different barrier designs appears in regulatory documents from several industrialized countries. While in the past, equivalence has been thought of mainly in terms of contaminant travel times, in recent years it has been defined more in terms of the magnitude of a disposal site's potential impact on groundwater resources. This paper presents some original analytical solutions to the problem of contaminant migration through a multi-layered mineral barrier. The solutions account for the two major mechanisms of subsurface contaminant migration, namely, advection and diffusion-dispersion. An example application using the proposed solutions and a numerical model illustrates how one multi-layered mineral barrier can be considered superior to another from a strictly hydro-dispersive viewpoint. The influence of partial saturation of the mineral barrier is investigated using a numerical solution to the Richards equation for unsaturated flow. It is emphasized that conclusions relative to the superiority of one multi-layered barrier, with respect to another, should not only consider hydro-dispersive aspects, but also other processes such as the mechanical and chemical evolutions of the different barrier components. Although such phenomena are poorly addressed by existing models, failure to take them into account, at least in a qualitative fashion, may lead to unconservative conclusions with respect to barrier equivalence.     

基于数据挖掘技术的事故隐患预警方法研究

为改良企业既有隐患排查治理方法,提高辨识效率,提升整改效果,应用并优化数据流滑动窗口模型、等价类变化算法、变化挖掘算法等数据挖掘技术,构建1种关联隐患预警方法,该方法以企业历史隐患数据为基础,通过挖掘实时隐患数据的关联规则,发布关联隐患的类型、存在可能性和变化模式等预警信息,指导企业进行针对性排查和整改。最后,以72家安全管理性质相似企业的28 957项隐患数据为例,验证该方法可行性。研究结果表明:该方法不但能挖掘关联隐患类型及其变化模式,而且预警准确率随置信度水平提升而不断提高。     

Assessment of GM Crops in Commercial Agriculture

The caliber of recent discourse regarding geneticallymodified organisms (GMOs) has suffered from a lack of consensuson terminology, from the scarcity of evidence upon which toassess risk to health and to the environment, and from valuedifferences between proponents and opponents of GMOs. Towardsaddressing these issues, we present the thesis that GM should bedefined as the forcible insertion of DNA into a host genome,irrespective of the source of the DNA, and exclusive ofconventional or mutation breeding.Some defenders of the commercial use of GMOs have referred to thescientific work of GMO critics as ``junk science.' Such a claim isfalse and misleading, given that many papers critical of both theutility and safety of GMOs have been published in peer reviewedjournals by respected scientists. In contrast, there is a dearthof peer reviewed work to substantiate the frequently heardassertions of either safety or utility in GMOs. The polarity,which now characterizes much of the public discourse on GMOs,reflects not simply scientific disagreement, but alsodisagreement in underlying value assumptions. Value differencesstrongly affect the assessment of both benefit and harm fromGMOs.The concept of substantial equivalence occupies a pivotalposition in the GMO risk assessment process that is used in bothCanada and the US. A GMO judged to be substantially equivalent toa conventional product – as have all submissions to date – ispresumed to be safe enough for commercialization. The conclusionof safety – from both human health and environmental perspectives– should be based on scientific evidence, corroborated by actualexperimentation. However, regulators infer safety largely fromassumptions-based reasoning, with little or no experimentalvalidation. The judgement of safety because of substantialequivalence is a dubious argument by analogy.     

Beyond Substantial Equivalence: Ethical Equivalence

The concept of substantial equivalence,introduced for the risk assessment of geneticallymodified (GM) food, is a reducing concept because itignores the context in which these products have beenproduced and brought to the consumer at the end of thefood chain. Food quality cannot be restricted to meresubstance and food acts on human beings not only atthe level of nutrition but also through theirrelationship to environment and society. To make thiscontext explicit, I will introduce an ``equivalencescale' for the evaluation of food chains (GM or notGM). By contrast with substantial equivalence, whichinvolves mainly quantitative, analytical methods ofevaluation, ``qualitative equivalence' refers to ``less'or non-substantial factors that require new methodsof evaluation based on qualitative principles.``Ethical equivalence' refers to factors that show themoral value contained in food products. To analyze thedifferent levels at which ethics is needed in foodchains, I will use the French principles: ``Liberty,Equality, Fraternity,' or freedom, equality,solidarity, and add a fourth principle:sustainability. Sustainability, solidarity, andfreedom can be applied to the evaluation ofenvironmental, socio-economic, and socio-culturalethical equivalence, respectively. Equality refers tojustice and should operate so as to guarantee thatsustainability, solidarity, and freedom are satisfied.I suggest that ethics can provide a basis for arenewal of the food chain concept. Besides QualityAssurance, it is now essential to develop an ``EthicalAssurance' and this equivalence scale could provide abasis to set up ``Ethical Assurance Standards' (EAS)for food chains.