A critical review of the water quality classification system in Turkey: A case study on Meric Basin

An 11-year period of water quality data, collected by the Directorate of Sate Water Works of Turkey are thoroughly analyzed for the purpose of implementing water quality classes to water resources in the Meric Basin, located on the European land mass of Turkey. Water quality parameters are divided into four groups as physical, organic, inorganic, and bacteriological. The quality class of each group is evaluated by taking into account the poorest quality of any parameter in the group, after which a quality rank is assigned to the sampling station and the waterbody in question. This method of water quality classification imposed by the Turkish Water Quality Act, is then criticized with respect to a statistical approach.     

Operator competence and capacity - Lessons from the Montara blowout

The blowout of the Montara H1 well in the Timor Sea off the northwest coast of Australia in August 2009 was the first such incident in Australian offshore waters for 25 years. This article seeks to draw lessons for management of complex hazardous activities from these events by analysing critical decisions regarding well control barriers. Concepts such as trial and error learning, sensemaking and the need for multiple barriers are used to demonstrate why the organisation was blind to the developing problems and hence why lack of technical competence alone is not sufficient to explain the events that occurred. Three organisational improvements are proposed - providing active supervision, improved technical integrity assurance and better use of risk assessment. The article concludes with an appeal for changes in regulatory policy regarding safety to include organisational issues in addition to the traditional technical focus.     

Local hegemonies resisting a green shift and what to do about it: the introduction of a regional park in southern Norway

In the Lister region in the southern part of Norway, attempts are currently being made to facilitate for a green shift. The paper discusses two different approaches towards such a challenge. The first is procedural, where success or failure hinges on the methods applied in the effort to convince locals to incorporate climate considerations. The alternative is to reflect upon how a green ideology blends into pre-existing ideological elements in the region. It is claimed that an important reason for the failure so far to place the environment at the core of regional development, is that too much emphasis has been put on the first approach, on procedure and dialogue, whereas few efforts have been made to understand the structure of the discursive terrain in the region. What prevents a green shift has less to do with methods and is more connected to the dominance of a logic of economic growth and the fact that locals are confident that nature is already dealt with in a sensible manner. The conclusion is that we need to understand what people are concerned about and what prevents them to change, before we start telling them how to think and do development.     

Effectiveness of lowering the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for driving from 0.10 to 0.08 grams per deciliter in the United States

Objective: The current study evaluates of the effects of lowering the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit from 0.10 to 0.08?g/dL across all 50 states in the United States. Our objectives were to (1) estimate the effects of the 0.08?g/dL BAC limit on drinking driver fatal crash rates; (2) compare the effects from early-adopting states to the effects of late-adopting states; (3) determine the effects on drivers with low BACs (0.01–0.07?g/dL) and high BACs (0.08+ g/dL); and (4) estimate the lives saved since 1983 due to the adoption of 0.08?g/dL BAC laws.

Methods: Our study examined annual data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) for each jurisdiction from 1982 through 2014. Our basic outcome measure was the ratio of drinking drivers (BAC ≥0.01?g/dL) to nondrinking drivers (BAC?=?0.00?g/dL). Covariates included 0.10 BAC laws, administrative license revocation (ALR) laws, seat belt laws, minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws, and unemployment rates. We utilized autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models for each state, where the implementation date of the law was modeled as a zero-order transfer function in the series, in addition to any extant trends that may have been occurring simultaneously. Before determining the specific impact of the implementation of 0.08?g/dL BAC laws, we conducted a time series analysis for each state. We tested for between-state mediating factors relating to our covariates.

Results: A total of 38 of the 51 jurisdictions showed that lowering the BAC limit was associated with reduced drinking driver fatal crash ratios, with 20 of those reductions being significant. The total effects showed a 10.4% reduction in annual drinking driver fatal crash rates, which is estimated to have saved an average of 1,736 lives each year between 1983 and 2014 and 24,868 lives in total. Implementing a BAC limit of 0.08?g/dL had significant impacts on both high- and low-BAC fatal crash ratios. Though early-adopting jurisdictions (1983–1999) demonstrated a larger decrease in fatal drinking driver crash ratios than did late-adopting jurisdictions (2000–2005), the results were not statistically significant (P?>?.05).

Conclusions: Our study of the effects of lowering the BAC from 0.10 to 0.08?g/dL in the United States from 1982 to 2014 showed an overall effect of 10.4% on annual drinking driver fatal crash rates, in line with other multistate studies. This research provides strong evidence of the relationship between lowering the BAC limit for driving and the general deterrent effect on impaired-driving fatal crash rates.     

中国生物多样性保护立法现状与需求

生物多样性保护依赖于健全的国际立法和国家立法。中国已颁布一系列有关生物多样性保护的法律和条例。这些法规的实施，使生物多样性保护工作取得重大进展，但还存在许多不足和空白。本文概述了中国在生物多样性保护方面的立法现状，在此基础上，针对存在问题，并根据《生物多样性公约》要求，从生态系统、物种和遗传多样性保护３个层次上阐明需要完善和加强法规建设的若干方面和需求。     

Twenty-five years of biomonitoring lead in the Frankfurt/Main area

The present study is an example of the historical monitoring of heavy metals. The specific question it aims to explore is: to what extent has the lead content of selected organisms used for biomonitoring in Frankfurt/Main—one of the cities in Germany most heavily affected by automobile traffic—changed as a result of legislation on leaded gasoline?

Data on the lead content of the moss speciesBryum argenteum Hedw. from the years 1974, 1975 and 1978 and data on the lead content of the outer bark of the ash speciesFraxinus excelsior L. from 1973 served as the basis for the repeated measurements. Remeasurement was successful in 76.5% (i.e. 124 trees at 26 growth sites). The study produced the following results:

• ? As was expected, the lead content of the short-term accumulatorBryum argenteum Hedw. was distinctly lowered with a decreasing particulate lead concentration. However, the reduction factor varied greatly between the different growth sites.
• ? On the other hand, the lead content measured in the outer bark layers ofFraxinus excelsior L. has risen markedly during the past two decades. Whereas in 1973 nearly all trees examined displayed very low concentrations of lead (< 38 ppm), only 9.5% were still in this category in 1997 and nearly 30% exhibited high or even unacceptable lead concentrations (< 150 ppm → > 225 ppm). Various factors have to be taken into account to explain this increase. First of all, bark is a long-term accumulator for heavy metals like lead and its enrichment capacity could have increased as the surface becomes rougher over time. Furthermore, lead is most probably leached out of the bark to a lesser degree now than in the 1970s, owing to the reduced concentration of sulphuric acid in the rain. The dramatic growth of automobile traffic in the Frankfurt/Main area during the period covered by the study undoubtedly plays an important role as well.

     

基于水生态文明建设的地方水环境资源立法研究

水生态文明是生态文明的重要组成和基础保障,是实现生态文明的重要支撑.进行水生态文明建设的重要基础保障是法律,而法律保障中最基础的一个环节就是立法,因此通过立法来保障水生态文明建设成为必然的趋势.选取江苏这一地区,从地方法治的角度出发,分析江苏省水生态文明建设在立法取得的成果以及存在的应当注意的问题.在此基础上结合江苏省的特殊省情,从立法的重点内容、立法程序以及立法监督三个方面提出完善地方水生态文明立法的建议.     

对"有毒重金属"实施2种总量控制监管方式的利害分析

首先,必须明确认定：对第一类污染物实施《源头总量控制》是污控执法和促进经济结构改革的保证条件.这种监管方式自2008年《第一次全国污染源普查工业污染源产排污系数手册》公布以来,更具有其切实实施的可行性.《源头总量控制》与《水环境总量控制》两种监管方式既是各自独立、缺一不可,又是相互依赖和相互补充的关系,目前一些地方的规划管理者模糊和混淆了两类污染物和两种监管的内容和方式,笼统以《水环境总量控制》来监管所有污染物,丢弃了《源头总量控制》,使本应严加管理的饮用水水源地丧失了控制第一类污染物的能力.我国《地面水环境质量标准》（GB 3838-88）中第一类污染物的水质指标与我国实际的水环境背景值有很大差距,存在着＂放宽允排量＂和＂价态转化引发危害＂的问题;以一个10 t电解铅的企业为例,证明两种监管方式的铅允排量相差甚大.总之,把第一类污染物与第二类污染物统一实施《水环境容量总量控制》将带来众多的危害,应当严格实施《源头总量控制》与《水环境总量控制》相结合的监管方式.     

Double-conscious professional self-expression of racial minority scientists-in-training

Double-consciousness pervades the workplace experiences of minority professionals. Prior research captures various manifestations of double-consciousness in the workplace, yet much of what we know comes from understanding the experiences of minority professionals in predominantly White workplaces. Inherent in conceptions of double-consciousness is the sense of twoness in one's self concept that arises from seeing oneself through the eyes of both the predominantly White profession and one's own racial community. In this study, we examine contrasts as well as commonalities in experiences of double-consciousness across different social contexts in the socialization of minority scientists-in-training. We draw from qualitative data collected from 64 individuals (including 39 underrepresented minority doctoral students, and 25 faculty, staff, and administrators) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) doctoral programs in both predominantly White and historically Black institutions to examine and compare the factors across different contexts that influence how minority scientists-in-training are able to express their emerging professional identity. Our findings reveal how minority scientists-in-training experience twoness as both a struggle and a strength, and we develop an inductive model of how different socializations influence the double-conscious professional self-expressions of minority scientists in training.     

从《矿山安全和卫生公约》剖析我国矿山安全卫生立法

国际劳工组织制定的劳工标准在国际上被认为具有高度的权威地位,日益成为各国制定法律法规的标准文书。176号《公约》的目的是为了促进各国在矿山职业安全和卫生方面采取行动,制定国家矿山安全和卫生政策、法规和实施制度,并要求政府、主管部门、雇主、工人承担各自的职责,确保矿山职工拥有安全与健康的工作环境和体面的工作,促进采矿业的可持续发展。通过我国矿山法律法规与176号《公约》的比对分析,本文提出了应进一步完善访协商机制,明确主管部门职责,以法律法规形式明确义务,赋予工人安全与已生权利和义务等方面完善我国矿山安全和卫生法律法规建议。