Critical perspectives of sustainable development research and practice

Sustainable development has been intensely debated for more than twenty years, but real progress of our societies to become more sustainable is very slow. Therefore this special issue provides a forum for critical perspectives of Sustainable Development Research and Practice. The papers are grouped into three clusters: a. Sustainability Science, b. Economic Problems and c. Corporate Contributions to Sustainable Development.Although a single special issue cannot address the entire array of issues pertaining to progress of sustainability related research, the selected papers highlight special aspects of sustainability research either due to their theoretical contributions or because they report on valuable empirical evidence. The main goal of sustainability research should be to contribute to our understanding of sustainability problems and to develop and help to implement solutions to solve them. This can be described as the relevance of sustainability research. A precondition to gain relevance is the rigor of sustainability science: it has to be based on solid scientific principles and methods. Additionally it has to be regarded that Sustainable Development is dynamic and that it has both normative and practical aspects. It is concluded that sustainability science and practice should be based upon these four central aspects: rigor, relevance, normative aspects and dynamic     

Modelling and Prediction of Diesel Engine Performance using Relevance Vector Machine

Diesel engines are being increasingly adopted by many car manufacturers today, yet no exact mathematical diesel engine model exists due to its highly nonlinear nature. In the current literature, black-box identification has been widely used for diesel engine modelling and many artificial neural network (ANN) based models have been developed. However, ANN has many drawbacks such as multiple local minima, user burden on selection of optimal network structure, large training data size, and over-fitting risk. To overcome these drawbacks, this article proposes to apply an emerging machine learning technique, relevance vector machine (RVM), to model and predict the diesel engine performance. The property of global optimal solution of RVM allows the model to be trained using only a few experimental data sets. In this study, the inputs of the model are engine speed, load, and cooling water temperature, while the output parameters are the brake-specific fuel consumption and the amount of exhaust emissions like nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide. Experimental results show that the model accuracy is satisfactory even the training data is scarce. Moreover, the model accuracy is compared with that using typical ANN. Evaluation results also show that RVM is superior to typical ANN approach.     

污水中喹诺酮类抗生素分布及与环境变量的相关性研究

利用固相萃取-高效液相色谱串联质谱法（SPE-HPLC-MS/MS）对广西九洲江地区的6个污水处理厂的进水和出水中的喹诺酮类抗生素（QNs）进行检测,分析不同处理工艺对QNs的去除情况,并对检出的QNs进行冗余分析,探究其与环境变量之间的相关性。结果表明,污水处理厂进水中诺氟沙星（NFX）检出浓度最高,其次是环丙沙星（CPX）、氧氟沙星（OFX）和恩诺沙星（EFX）,QNs在进水和出水时的质量浓度分别为252.1~1 374.9 ng/L和44.4~147.1 ng/L;污水中QNs的总去除率为66.6%~92.5%;Na⁺、K⁺和总有机碳（TOC）与多数QNs呈正相关关系,Ca²⁺、Mg²⁺、pH值与多数QNs呈负相关关系。     

Towards better integration of environmental science in society: Lessons from BONUS,the joint Baltic Sea environmental research and development programme

Integration of environmental science in society is impeded by the large gap between science and policy that is characterised by weaknesses in societal relevance and dissemination of science and its practical implementation in policy. We analyse experiences from BONUS, the policy-driven joint Baltic Sea research and development programme (2007–2020), which is part of the European Research Area (ERA) and involves combined research funding by eight EU member states. The ERA process decreased fragmentation of Baltic Sea science and BONUS funding increased the scientific quality and societal relevance of Baltic Sea science and strengthened the science-policy interface. Acknowledging the different drivers for science producers (academic career, need for funding, peer review) and science users (fast results fitting policy windows), and realising that most scientists aim at building conceptual understanding rather than instrumental use, bridges can be built through strategic planning, coordination and integration. This requires strong programme governance stretching far beyond selecting projects for funding, such as coaching, facilitating the sharing of infrastructure and data and iterative networking within and between science producer and user groups in all programme phases. Instruments of critical importance for successful science-society integration were identified as: (1) coordinating a strategic research agenda with strong inputs from science, policy and management, (2) providing platforms where science and policy can meet, (3) requiring cooperation between scientists to decrease fragmentation, increase quality, clarify uncertainties and increase consensus about environmental problems, (4) encouraging and supporting scientists in disseminating their results through audience-tailored channels, and (5) funding not only primary research but also synthesis projects that evaluate the scientific findings and their practical use in society – in close cooperation with science users − to enhance relevance, credibility and legitimacy of environmental science and expand its practical implementation.     

Policy-makers perspectives on credibility,relevance and legitimacy (CRELE)

For more than a decade, a popular theory amongst scholars of science-policy interactions has been that research is most effective at informing policy and decision-making processes when it is credible, relevant and legitimate (CRELE) with multiple audiences simultaneously. In this paper, we argue that this triad reflects a primarily intra-scientific perspective, rather than the needs and considerations of policy-makers themselves. Using over seventy semi-structured interviews with policy-makers, we present alternative criteria for effective science-policy interactions based on experiences in the urban water sector. We find that applicability, comprehensiveness, timing and accessibility (ACTA) better summarises the most important aspects of scientific research when it comes to influencing decision-making, while finding that CRELE was a poor predictor of policy-maker concerns. Whilst the ACTA quartet effectively gives double-billing to the ‘relevance’ component of CRELE, credibility and legitimacy were much lower priorities for policy-makers interviewed. This article questions whether CRELE is a useful mindset for researchers interested in policy influence. These findings will be of interest to those engaged in debates related to effective science-policy interactions more broadly, and researchers that want to marshal policy influence more specifically.     

2009年广州能见度变化规律及主要影响因素分析

通过对2009年的广州大气能见度和影响因素的数据资料统计,结合定性分析、相关性计算及各时间尺度中物理量的相互作用过程研究,得出能见度的变化规律和各因素的相关性特征。结果表明,2009年整体能见度水平略有提高;24h的降雨量、气温差值较大时,该日的能见度小时均值波动较大;风速、相对湿度与中尺度(24h)能见度的相关性较强;降雨量、气温对小尺度(1h、5min)能见度影响显著;相对湿度水平能制约风速对能见度的改善作用。灰霾现象等与能见度水平密切相关。     

基于ANFIS改进的大气腐蚀环境缺失数据填补方法

目的针对大气腐蚀中重要环境数据缺失的复杂问题,提出一种相关因素(Relevance Factors)和自适应神经模糊推理系统(Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System)结合的方法(RF-ANFIS)对缺失数据进行填补。方法首先采用相关因素方法计算缺失数据和多项环境因素间的相关程度,筛选出相关系数较大的因子,然后应用ANFIS构建缺失数据与所选环境因子的关系模型。最后以二氧化硫数据为具体对象,采用北京2015年的气象数据对所建立的模型进行检验。结果经过改进的RF-ANFIS模型在最优情况下样本均方误差为0.696,在14个测试样本中有13个相对误差在20%以内,针对有限样本的数据分析中更为适用。结论该方法有效提高了大气腐蚀环境数据缺失的填补精度,对在数据缺失情况下预测大气腐蚀速率具有重要意义。     

Reporting and evaluation criteria as means towards a transparent use of ecotoxicity data for environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals

Ecotoxicity data with high reliability and relevance are needed to guarantee the scientific quality of environmental risk assessments of pharmaceuticals. The main advantages of a more structured approach to data evaluation include increased transparency and predictability of the risk assessment process, and the possibility to use non-standard data.In this collaboration, between the research project MistraPharma and the German Federal Environment Agency, a new set of reporting and evaluation criteria is presented and discussed. The new criteria are based on the approaches in the literature and the OECD reporting requirements, and have been further developed to include both reliability and relevance of test data.Intended users are risk assessors and researchers performing ecotoxicological experiments, but the criteria can also be used for education purposes and in the peer-review process for scientific papers. This approach intends to bridge the gap between the regulator and the scientist’s needs and way of work.     

高层建筑火灾风险的概率模糊综合评价方法

火灾风险评价是减小和控制高层建筑火灾的基本手段。目前 ,高层建筑火灾风险的评价方法很多 ,但是很少有将概率方法与模糊评价方法相结合进行火灾风险评价的。笔者基于对高层建筑火灾风险因素的综合分析 ,建立了高层建筑火灾风险的概率模糊综合评价模型 ,并以具体的工程实例 ,论述了该数学模型在高层建筑火灾风险评价中的应用 ,目的在于为高层建筑火灾风险评价方法的研究提供一种新的尝试 ,为采取合理的火灾防治技术措施在理论上、方法上提供有益的指导。     

“九五”期间大石桥市大气环境质量变化趋势分析

通过对大石桥市“九五”期间大气监测资料的分析研究,从中找出该期间大石桥市大气环境质量的变化规律与发展趋势,分析出大气污染的原因与特征,进一步提出综合防治建议。