Environmental and energy-related challenges to sustainable tourism in the United States and China

This article examines the relationship between tourism, energy, and environment. This article approaches tourism as a complex adaptive system composed of consumers, transportation providers, travel intermediaries, and destinations composed of multiple tourism-related companies and other stakeholder groups. Environmental and energy-related challenges of components to the system are examined as well as various units – the system as a whole, enterprises and individuals – within the system. A total of 92 peer-reviewed articles were studied that address ‘energy’ and ‘tourism’ published between 1974 and 2011. Also addressed are the impacts of social and cultural differences between the United States and China concerning responses to environmental and energy-related challenges. This article concludes with recommendations for addressing the challenges associated with such challenges, including building system capacity, technology development and adoption, support of individual behavior change, increasing understanding of the trade-offs and interactions within the system, and adoption of multidisciplinary approaches to these challenges within the tourism system.     

Space-time stick-breaking processes for small area disease cluster estimation

We propose a space-time stick-breaking process for the disease cluster estimation. The dependencies for spatial and temporal effects are introduced by using space-time covariate dependent kernel stick-breaking processes. We compared this model with the space-time standard random effect model by checking each model’s ability in terms of cluster detection of various shapes and sizes. This comparison was made for simulated data where the true risks were known. For the simulated data, we have observed that space-time stick-breaking process performs better in detecting medium- and high-risk clusters. For the real data, county specific low birth weight incidences for the state of South Carolina for the years 1997–2007, we have illustrated how the proposed model can be used to find grouping of counties of higher incidence rate.     

Species richness in a riparian plant community along the banks of the Xiangxi River,the Three Gorges region

The distribution of vascular plant species richness along an altitudinal gradient and their relationships with environmental variables, including slope, aspect, bank (flooding) height, and river width of the Xiangxi River, Hubei Province, were examined. Total vascular plant species richness changed with elevation: it increased at lower elevations, reached a maximum in the midreaches and decreased thereafter. In particular, tree and herbaceous species richness were related to altitude. Correlation analysis (Kendall's τ) between species richness and environmental variables indicated that the change in species richness in the riparian zone was determined by riparian environmental factors and characteristics of regional vegetation distribution along the altitudinal gradient. The low species richness at lower elevations resulted from seasonal flooding and human activities – agriculture and fuel collection – and the higher species richness in the midreaches reflected transitional zones in natural vegetation types that had had little disturbance. These results on species distribution in the riparian community could be utilized as a reference for restoration efforts to improve water quality of the emerging reservoir resulting from the Three Gorges Hydroelectric Dam project.     

Associations between soil lead concentrations and populations by race/ethnicity and income-to-poverty ratio in urban and rural areas

Lead (Pb) is a well-studied environmental contaminant that has many negative health effects, especially for children. Both racial/ethnic and income disparities have been documented with respect to exposure to Pb in soils. The objectives of this study were to assess whether soil Pb concentrations in rural and urban areas of South Carolina USA, previously identified as having clusters of intellectual disabilities (ID) in children, were positively associated with populations of minority and low-income individuals and children (≤6 years of age). Surface soils from two rural and two urban areas with identified clusters of ID were analyzed for Pb and concentrations were spatially interpolated using inverse distance weighted analysis. Population race/ethnicity and income-to-poverty ratio (ITPR) from United States Census 2000 block group data were aerially interpolated by block group within each area. Urban areas had significantly higher concentrations of Pb than rural areas. Significant positive associations between black, non-Hispanic Latino, individuals and children ≤6 years of age and mean estimated Pb concentrations were observed in both urban (r = 0.38, p = 0.0007) and rural (r = 0.53, p = 0.04) areas. Significant positive associations also were observed between individuals and children with an ITPR < 1.00 and Pb concentrations, though primarily in urban areas. Racial/ethnic minorities and low ITPR individuals, including children, may be at elevated risk for exposure to Pb in soils.     

中国古典园林元素在现代园林景观中的应用

为探究现代园林设计对古典园林元素的继承与运用,分析了中国古典园林的古典元素设计特点,列举了中国古典园林元素设计手法:抑扬衬托,隔而不塞,空间效果以小见大,欲露先藏,曲径通幽.提出了古典园林元素在现代园林景观中的应用,包括在古典山石元素、建筑元素、园林植物、理水中的应用.应参考古典园林造景设计方式,创造出一种具有中国特色...     

双齿许水蚤(Pseudodiaptomus dubia)对亚热带虾池Cu和Zn富集的研究

重金属污染是对虾养殖环境主要污染现象之一,查明重金属在环境中的迁移规律对养殖水质调控和对虾健康养殖具有重要意义。本文采用火焰原子吸收分光光度计测定在不同暴露时间下双齿许水蚤(Pseudodiaptomus dubia) 对Cu和Zn的富集量,研究了双齿许水蚤对Cu和Zn富集动力学,并探讨了温度和盐度对其富集的影响。结果表明：双齿许水蚤对Cu和Zn的富集过程均经历了快速、慢速和平衡3个阶段,实验24 h达到富集平衡;双齿许水蚤对Cu和Zn的富集动力学参数k_1(Cu)=0.077 < k_1(Zn)=0.272,BCF_(Cu)=0.344 < BCF_(Zn)=2.252,双齿许水蚤对Zn的富集速率和富集能力均大于Cu。温度对双齿许水蚤Cu和Zn富集的影响显著(p <0.05),最适温度范围为15~30 ℃;盐度对双齿许水蚤Zn富集的影响极显著(p <0.01),而对Cu富集的影响不显著(p >0.05),对Cu和Zn适宜的富集盐度范围为5~35。这些研究结果表明,双齿许水蚤对Cu和Zn均具有较强的富集能力。基于以上研究结果,在对虾养殖期间,应通过循环过滤设施去除受到重金属污染池塘中的浮游动物,从而减少幼虾对其摄食和量度体重金属的积累,降低食品安全隐患。     

Does the metal content in soil around a pregnant woman’s home increase the risk of low birth weight for her infant?

Low birth weight (LBW) is associated with a number of maternal environmental exposures during pregnancy. This study explored the association between soil metal concentrations around the home where the mother lived during pregnancy and the outcome of LBW. We used a retrospective cohort of 9,920 mother–child pairs who were insured by Medicaid during pregnancy and lived in ten residential areas, where we conducted soil sampling. We used a grid that overlaid the residential areas and collected soil samples at the grid intersections. The soil was analyzed for the concentration of eight metals [arsenic (As), barium (Ba), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), and mercury (Hg)], and we then used Bayesian Kriging to estimate the concentration at the actual maternal addresses, since we had the GIS coordinates of the homes. We used generalized additive modeling, because the metal concentrations had nonlinear associations with LBW, to develop the best fitting multivariable model for estimating the risk of LBW. The final model showed significant associations for female infants, maternal smoking during pregnancy, non-white mothers, Cu, and As with LBW. The As variable was nonlinear in relation to LBW, and the association between higher concentrations of As with LBW was strong (p = 0.002). We identified a statistically significant association between soil concentrations of arsenic around the home of pregnant women and an increased risk of LBW for her infant.     

啤酒废水同步脱氮除磷工艺启动研究

为了将短程硝化反硝化与A/O法除磷同时应用于SBR工艺处理啤酒废水,通过改变序批式反应器(SBR)工艺运行方式,使活性污泥依次经历厌氧、好氧、缺氧3个阶段,控制ρ(MLSS)=4 700 mg/L、pH=7.5～8.0、DO=0.3～0.5 mg/L(好氧阶段)。反应器内短程硝化反硝化同步除磷效果明显,氨氮去除率大于90%,亚硝酸盐积累率大于85%,磷去除率大于98%。试验结果表明短程硝化反硝化与A/O法除磷可同时应用于SBR工艺处理啤酒废水。     

典型全氟辛烷磺酸盐(PFOS)替代品对土壤跳虫的生态毒性

利用土壤模式动物白符跳(Folsomia candida),评价4种PFOS替代产品,包括50%的全氟丁基有机铵盐阳离子表面活性剂(简称表面活性剂)、用调聚法合成的三防织物整理剂(含固率23.7%,简称织物三防整理剂)、用电解氟化法合成的C4织物及C6织物三防整理剂的生态毒性,目的是为筛选安全高效的PFOS替代品提供科学依据。研究表明,表面活性剂与三防织物整理剂对跳虫急性毒性的LC50(7d)分别为4959和1007mg·kg-1,而C4与C6整理剂对跳虫急性毒性的LC50(7d)均大于5000mg·kg-1;表面活性剂、织物三防整理剂与C4整理剂对跳虫慢性毒性的EC50(28d)分别为0.15、0.12和0.18mg·kg-1,而C6织物三防整理剂对跳虫慢性毒性的EC50(28d)大于1mg·kg-1;4种替代品生态毒性顺序为织物三防整理剂>表面活性剂>C4>C6织物三防整理剂。通过与本实验室PFOS生态毒性的研究结果比较发现,除织物三防整理剂,其余3种替代品对跳虫的生态毒性作用均小于PFOS,其中C6整理剂对跳虫的毒性最小,有望成为替代PFOS的环保型织物整理剂。     

冷藏技术对发光细菌活性及毒性测试性能的影响

由于发光细菌的在线毒性监测技术受到了细菌生物活性稳定性保持问题的制约,探索一种脱脂牛奶菌悬液冷藏复苏方法,以提高发光细菌活性的保持时间。比较了明亮发光杆菌新鲜菌液冷藏、冻干粉菌悬液冷藏和脱脂牛奶菌悬液冷藏对发光细菌生物活性的影响,同时,比较了不同渗透压调节液对菌悬液急性毒性测试的灵敏度和稳定性的影响。结果表明,质量分数为25%的脱脂牛奶可提高发光细菌生物活性的稳定性,菌悬液冷藏7d后复苏,相对发光率仍可达92%。2%NaCl和10%蔗糖为渗透压调节液时,冷藏至第7天的发光细菌脱脂牛奶菌悬液对重金属毒性测试的灵敏度,与新鲜菌液基本相同,但添加蔗糖降低了其对有机物的测试灵敏度。利用发光细菌脱脂牛奶冷藏菌悬液对Zn~(2+)进行连续7d的毒性测试,EC_(50)的变异系数小于15%,结果稳定性良好。