Institutional quality,financial development and sustainable economic growth among lower income countries

This article postulates strong endogenous relationships in lower income countries between institutional quality, financial development and sustained economic growth. These associations were investigated using the vector-error correction model (VECM) and Granger causality method for a sample of 79 countries from 2005 to 2022. The findings show that (1) these variables reinforce each other in the short run. (2) In the long run, both institutional quality and financial development can fuel economic growth. (3) The positive effect of institutional quality on economic growth is greater than that of financial development. Policy implications of these findings are that careful attention should be paid to co-development policies to enhance the institutional quality and the financial system in these economies. Policies should also consider economic growth strategies to enable sustainable economic growth rates.     

Response of bioaerosol cells to photocatalytic inactivation with ZnO and TiO2 impregnated onto Perlite and Poraver carriers

•ZnO/Perlite inactivated 72% of bioaerosols in continuous gas phase. •TiO₂ triggered the highest level of cytotoxicity with 95% dead cells onto Poraver. •Inactivation mechanism occurred by membrane damage, morphological changes and lysis. •ZnO/Poraver showed null inactivation of bioaerosols. •Catalysts losses at the outlet of the photoreactor for all systems were negligible. Bioaerosols are airborne microorganisms that cause infectious sickness, respiratory and chronic health issues. They have become a latent threat, particularly in indoor environment. Photocatalysis is a promising process to inactivate completely bioaerosols from air. However, in systems treating a continuous air flow, catalysts can be partially lost in the gaseous effluent. To avoid such phenomenon, supporting materials can be used to fix catalysts. In the present work, four photocatalytic systems using Perlite or Poraver glass beads impregnated with ZnO or TiO₂ were tested. The inactivation mechanism of bioaerosols and the cytotoxic effect of the catalysts to bioaerosols were studied. The plug flow photocatalytic reactor treated a bioaerosol flow of 460×1 0⁶ cells/m³_air with a residence time of 5.7 s. Flow Cytometry (FC) was used to quantify and characterize bioaerosols in terms of dead, injured and live cells. The most efficient system was ZnO/Perlite with 72% inactivation of bioaerosols, maintaining such inactivation during 7.5 h due to the higher water retention capacity of Perlite (2.8 mL/g_Perlite) in comparison with Poraver (1.5 mL/g_Perlite). However, a global balance showed that TiO₂/Poraver system triggered the highest level of cytotoxicity to bioaerosols retained on the support after 96 h with 95% of dead cells. SEM and FC analyses showed that the mechanism of inactivation with ZnO was based on membrane damage, morphological cell changes and cell lysis; whereas only membrane damage and cell lysis were involved with TiO₂. Overall, results highlighted that photocatalytic technologies can completely inactivate bioaerosols in indoor environments.     

On the search for mimetic patterns in environmental disclosure: an international perspective

In this paper, we assert and test the proposition that environmental disclosure (ED) is structured by institutionalised myths and that is why ED is decoupled from environmental performance and media pressures. Focusing on firms from Canada, France and Germany, findings show that ED mimetic isomorphism for different topics varies among countries and by industry sensitiveness to the environment. The results corroborate the institutional presumption that institutionalised myths vary among different contexts. Our findings also suggest that institutionalised ED structures may not reflect environmental performance, mimetic patterns being affected by environmental performance. However, the decoupling between ED mimetic isomorphism and environmental performance decrease when firms’ ED credibility is questioned by the media.     

试论生态文明制度体系的构建

建立健全生态文明制度体系是推进我国生态文明建设的重点。党的十八届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于全面深化改革若干重大问题的决定》指出,生态文明制度体系应当包括决策制度、评价制度、管理制度与考核制度等内容。立足社会主义制度建设的中国特色,针对我国生态文明建设的具体需求,本文将生态文明制度体系解构为四大板块:绿色高效决策制度、生态有价评估制度、生态环境监管制度与生态优先考核制度,并进一步明确了各项制度构建工作的具体内容。生态文明制度体系的构建和不断完善,将为全面建成人与自然和谐的美丽中国提供系统保障。     

臭氧氧化处理页岩气钻井废水的机理与动力学

采用臭氧氧化法处理页岩气钻井废水经混凝沉淀后的出水(COD=759.63 mg/L),重点研究了废水中有机污染物的去除机理与反应动力学。实验结果表明:在废水pH为11.2、臭氧通入量为8 mg/min、反应时间为50 min的最佳工艺条件下,废水的COD去除率为42.51%;羟基自由基抑制剂CO_3~(2-)、HCO_3~-和叔丁醇的引入抑制了废水COD的臭氧氧化去除,尤其是叔丁醇的加入使COD去除率显著下降,说明废水中有机物的臭氧氧化去除过程遵循羟基自由基机理;臭氧氧化法对钻井废水中有机物的氧化去除过程符合表观二级反应动力学规律。     

基于疲劳累积破坏机制的储罐结构动力可靠度分析

针对随机风载荷作用下储罐结构动力可靠性问题，以300 m3的中小型立式低温储罐为研究对象，利用AR模型进行数值模拟得到风载荷的脉动风速时程与脉动功率谱密度函数。采用ANSYS建立储罐三维有限元模型，并对储罐进行动力学分析，计算出储罐结构的随机响应，进而求出随机风载荷作用下储罐结构动力可靠性所需全部数字特征，最后利用疲劳累积损伤机制计算得到储罐的动力可靠度。结果表明:假设结构强度不随时间退化，前5 a动力可靠度基本保持不变，随着使用年限的延长，动力可靠度下降速度明显增大。研究方法可为储罐的动力可靠性及寿命预测提供一定的理论依据。     

脱硝催化剂的失活机理及其再生技术

采用SEM、XRD和XRF对电厂失活脱硝催化剂进行表征,探讨其失活原因和机理。结果表明:电厂脱硝催化剂失活的主要原因是活性组分V的流失及碱金属K、碱土金属Ca和As元素造成的催化剂中毒,烟气中飞灰的沉积也有一定的影响。经吹扫、水洗、酸洗和V负载再生,催化剂的各项物化性质基本恢复,NOx转化率基本达到新鲜催化剂的水平。水洗主要去除催化剂中的碱金属,酸洗主要去除As2O3,负载V补充催化剂活性组分。V再生催化剂在较高温度下的抗硫性能更好。     

A Bayesian network-based approach for the assessment and management of ageing in major hazard establishments

Currently, there is an increasing attention towards ageing of industrial equipment, as the phenomenon has been recognised as a cause of severe accidents, recorded in the last years in many process establishments. Recent studies described ageing through a number of key-factors affecting the phenomenon by accelerating or slowing it down. The Italian Competent Authority for the prevention of chemical accidents (Seveso III Directive) adopted a short-cut method, accounting for the assessment of these factors, to evaluate the adequateness of ageing management during inspections at Seveso sites. In this paper, a Bayesian Network was developed, by using the data gathered during the first application of the short-cut method, with the aim to verify the robustness of the approach for ageing assessment and the validity of the a priori assumptions used in assessing the key-factors. The structure of the Bayesian network was established by using experts’ knowledge, whereas the Counting Learning algorithm was adopted to execute the parameter learning by means of the software Netica. The results showed that this network could effectively explore the complex logical and uncertain relationships amongst factors affecting equipment ageing. Results of the present study were exploited to improve the short-cut method.     

Research based on double coverage rate and reliability of gas detector layout optimization

The gas detector layout should be highly attuned to combustible gas leakage and attain a good reliability in avoiding detector malfunction, which is an important guarantee for the normal production of the chemical industry and other related enterprises. Herein, a gas detector layout optimization method based on double coverage and reliability is proposed. The key gas leakage monitoring area is determined through layout scene field investigation. To improve the detection probability and detection system reliability, the dual coverage target and voting mechanism are set, and the gas detector layout is determined with the ray-casting algorithm according to the coverage target. Combined with FLACS software to simulate a variety of typical leakage conditions under different layout scenarios, the relationship between the leaked gas concentration detected by gas detectors in each layout scheme and time is obtained, and the gas leakage detection probability in each layout scheme, number of detectors that can trigger the alarm, shortest time to trigger the alarm and reliability are comprehensively evaluated. The decision-maker selects the final gas detector layout plan according to the evaluation results and actual site needs. The study shows that the detection probability of each layout scheme set according to the double coverage is high, and multiple detectors can trigger the alarm (up to 100%), which ensures that the alarm can be triggered within 10 s under all applicable conditions. According to the evaluation results, the decision-maker can obtain a layout scheme that not only agrees with the actual site conditions but also attains a high detection probability, short detection time and strong reliability.     

Trust,political orientation,and environmental behavior

A growing body of large-N cross-national studies has identified key predictors of environmental behavior. Adopting a social dilemma perspective, where individuals must choose collective over self-interest to act pro-environmentally, integrated national datasets for 30 countries are used to examine the effects of generalized trust, trust in government, leftism, and post-materialism on three types of environmental behavior (intended action, informal action, and formal action). At the individual level, all predictors but institutional trust have significant positive effects on each type of behavior. Institutional trust is associated with greater willingness to make economic sacrifice for the environment and with less frequent informal environmental behavior, but it is unrelated to formal behavior. However, at the country level, the effect of trust is limited to intended behavior and depends on the type of trust. Individuals in countries with higher generalized trust averages are less willing to sacrifice for the environment, and those in countries with higher averages of institutional trust are more willing to do so.