Heavy metal availability and impact on activity of soil microorganisms along a Cu/Zn contamination gradient

All the regulations that define a maximum concentration of metals in the receiving soil are based on total soil metal concentration. However, the potential toxicity of a heavy metal in the soil depends on its speciation and availability. We studied the effects of heavy metal speciation and availability on soil microorganism activities along a Cu/Zn contamination gradient. Microbial biomass and enzyme activity of soil contaminated with both Cu and Zn were investigated. The results showed that microbial biomass was negatively affected by the elevated metal levels. The microbial biomass-C （Cmic）/organic C （Corg） ratio was closely correlated to heavy metal stress. There were negative correlations between soil microbial biomass, phosphatase activity and NH4NO3 extractable heavy metals. The soil microorganism activity could be predicted using empirical models with the availability of Cu and Zn. We observed that 72% of the variation in phosphatase activity could be explained by the NH4NO3-extractable and total heavy metal concentration. By considering different monitoring approaches and different viewpoints, this set of methods applied in this study seemed sensitive to site differences and contributed to a better understanding of the effects of heavy metals on the size and activity of microorganisms in soils. The data presented demonstrate the relationship between heavy metals availability and heavy metal toxicity to soil microorganism along a contamination gradient.     

开车前安全审核（PSSR）的理解及运用

PSSR是基于对安全要求不断提高,对过程安全控制不断完善的目标下发展和建立起来的,其目的在于判定新改扩建项目及停运再投运的设备能否安全启动,是国外大多数高危行业过程管理中的一个必须的要素。本文通过对独石化公司1000万吨/年炼油及120万吨/年乙烯改扩建工程项目成功实施开车前安全审核（PSSR）进行总结,阐明了与以往开工前竣工验收的区别,运用中应注意的问题,以及成功实施PSSR的因素。为今后的其它新改扩建项目的顺利开工提供参考。     

学习三个新环境噪声标准的体会

《声环境质量标准》、《工业企业厂界环境噪声排放标准》、《社会生活环境噪声排放标准》颁布执行是我国声环境保护工作上的一件大事。它完善了我国环境噪声标准体系,扩大了标准的适用范围,明确了标准的适用对象,理顺了相关标准之间的关系,同时对相关噪声监测方法进行了优化与完善。     

浅谈对新修订《清洁生产促进法》的几点认识

新修订的《清洁生产促进法》已于2012年7月1日正式实施.本文对新修订的《清洁生产促进法》条款内容进行了剖析和解读,分别从国家建立清洁生产推行规划制度、清洁生产财政资金、强制性清洁生产审核概念、企业清洁生产审核制度、法律责任、增强法律可操作性和主管部门及职责的调整七个方面进行了阐述,以利于读者更好理解该法修改的相关内容.     

Evaluating Children's Conservation Biology Learning at the Zoo

Millions of children visit zoos every year with parents or schools to encounter wildlife firsthand. Public conservation education is a requirement for membership in professional zoo associations. However, in recent years zoos have been criticized for failing to educate the public on conservation issues and related biological concepts, such as animal adaptation to habitats. I used matched pre‐ and postvisit mixed methods questionnaires to investigate the educational value of zoo visits for children aged 7–15 years. The questionnaires gathered qualitative data from these individuals, including zoo‐related thoughts and an annotated drawing of a habitat. A content analysis of these qualitative data produced the quantitative data reported in this article. I evaluated the relative learning outcomes of educator‐guided and unguided zoo visits at London Zoo, both in terms of learning about conservation biology (measured by annotated drawings) and changing attitudes toward wildlife conservation (measured using thought‐listing data). Forty‐one percent of educator‐guided visits and 34% of unguided visits resulted in conservation biology‐related learning. Negative changes in children's understanding of animals and their habitats were more prevalent in unguided zoo visits. Overall, my results show the potential educational value of visiting zoos for children. However, they also suggest that zoos’ standard unguided interpretive materials are insufficient for achieving the best outcomes for visiting children. These results support a theoretical model of conservation biology learning that frames conservation educators as toolmakers who develop conceptual resources to enhance children's understanding of science. Evaluación del Aprendizaje de Biología de la Conservación por Niños en el Zoológico Jensen     

The Impact of Scientific Information on Ecosystem Management: Making Sense of the Contextual Gap Between Information Providers and Decision Makers

Scientific information is not always effectively incorporated into decision-making processes. This phenomenon seems to hold even when the information is aligned with an articulated need, is generated according to sound scientific procedures, and is packaged with end-user preferences in mind. We propose that contextual or cultural differences contribute significantly to the misalignment in communication between those who generate information and those who seek information for improved management of natural resources. The solution is to cultivate shared understanding, which in turn relies on acknowledgment and sharing of diverse values and attitudes. This constitutes a difficult challenge in a culturally diverse environment. Whereas cultural diversity represents wealth in experiences, knowledge and perspectives it can constrain the potential to develop the shared understandings necessary for effective integration of new information. This article illustrates how a lack of shared understanding among participants engaged in a resource-management process can produce and perpetuate divergent views of the world, to the extent that information and knowledge flows are ineffective and scientific information, even when requested, cannot be used effectively. Four themes were distilled from interviews with management and scientific staff of a natural resource–management agency in South Africa. The themes are used to illustrate how divergent views embedded in different cultures can discourage alignment of effort toward a common purpose. The article then presents a sense-making framework to illustrate the potential for developing shared understandings in a culturally diverse world.     

The oil and gas industry,the Offshore Installation Manager (OIM) and the management of emergencies - Changes necessary to achieve effective competence assessment of OIMs in controlling emergencies

Within the UK offshore oil and gas industry all installations require to be under the charge of a ‘competent’ installation manager in accordance with the Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations (MAR) 1995. The Offshore Installation Manager (OIM) is responsible for the safety of all persons onboard and within 500 m of an installation. Should an incident arise, the OIM performs one of the most critical roles within the offshore industry - management of the response to the emergency to mitigate and make safe the installation to secure a place of safety for persons onboard or organise their safe evacuation. The emergency response also includes limiting the loss of hydrocarbons to the environment.Research at the University of Aberdeen has identified 8 potential barriers to the effective competence assessment of OIMs in controlling emergencies. These underlying barriers are a consequence of current UK legislation and industry practices in the assessment of OIM competence and result from:

• •multiple definitions of competence,
• •competence assessment predominantly by observation,
• •lack of specific and unambiguous competence requirements for trainers and assessors,
• •complexity in UK legislation and complicated interpretation of terms,
• •lack of statutory competence requirements for OIMs in controlling emergencies,
• •lack of ownership of OIM competence and competence assessment,
• •complex interactions across multiple UK Government departments, and
• •lack of regulation and independent audit of the competence assessment process of OIMs in controlling emergencies.

The potential barriers were identified by qualitative analysis of key documentation, including legislation, using a critical hermeneutic approach. Hermeneutics has historically been used to analyse texts within the domains of theology, business and law. It arguably, however, represents a powerful approach to the study of documents within the engineering domain and the offshore oil and gas industry.This paper discusses the identified potential barriers, research conclusions and recommendations and represents the culmination of three years of doctoral research investigating the competence assessment of OIMs in controlling emergencies within the offshore oil and gas industry. The research, in particular, is relevant to Duty Holders within the offshore industry, safety engineers and UK Government departments.     

中国气候变化的科学新认知

了解和认识百年来中国气候发生的变化、引起其变化的驱动因素以及未来的可能变化,可以更好地适应和减缓气候变化。本文综合评估了观测到的中国气候变化事实、中国气候变化的驱动力、中国未来气候变化预估三大方面,分析了气候变暖的趋势、水循环以及降水和冰川变化、极端天气气候事件变化、生物化学循环、海洋和土地覆盖变化及其气候效应以及未来气候变化的特点和趋势等最新科学进展。在中国百年温度趋势、气候系统多气候指标变化特征、极端天气气候事件中的人类活动作用以及气候系统模拟能力等方面的研究有了新的进展。可以看到中国气候变暖趋势持续、大气二氧化碳等长寿命温室气体浓度继续增长、人为强迫影响了多种气候要素在强度和频率的变化,中国陆地生态系统的固碳量增加。本文最后提出未来中国气候变化研究需要进一步加强的问题,包括:中国气候变化中的城市化效应、气候系统内部变率在年代际变化中的作用、气溶胶-云-降雨相互作用的机理、大范围土地利用变化(如大规模生态恢复工程)的气候效应,以及云辐射反馈、海洋环流对气候变化的响应与反馈、气候-碳循环反馈等过程对气候模拟不确定的影响等。     

关于排污许可固定污染源全覆盖的实现

随着对排污许可固定污染源全覆盖的理解逐步深化,排污许可在实践中不断深入推进。一是突破"片面覆盖",不再仅仅服务于总量控制和仅适用于部分地区;二是关注点从"排放"转移到"控制",实现污染物"全覆盖",从水、大气扩展到其他污染物;三是关注点从"许可"到"许可制",名录增加了登记管理类别,实现排污单位"全覆盖";四是关注点从"发证"到"监管",实现排污许可要求从纸面到实际的"全覆盖"。     

渗透文化意识提高阅读能力

影响阅读的变量主要有作者变量、语篇变量和读者变量。其中，作者变量是我们无法改变的，文化知识是读者变量中的一个重要方面。在英语教学中，培养学生对异国文化和本国文化的异同的敏感度和自觉性，即培养学生的文化意识，可以通过分析有文化内涵的词语、跨越阅读中的文化障碍、接受文学作品的熏陶等途径来实现。