Environmental factors in the development of autism spectrum disorders: A reply to Sealey et al. (2016)

Sealey et al. have reviewed the available evidence on environmental factors that may predispose the development of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in vulnerable populations. The authors identify exposure to vaccines, pesticides, and air pollutants as potential contributors. The author of this correspondence has previously proposed elsewhere that exposure to increasing levels of the agricultural and environmental pollutant, nitrous oxide (N2O), may be the dominant etiology of ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders. N2O is thought to target the opioidergic system, including the Ƙ-opioid receptor (KOR). Exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccines may disrupt the activity of several endogenous targets as has been shown, principally including μ-opioid receptor (MOR). Given the antagonistic actions of the MOR and KOR, dysregulation of MOR may leave the heightened dynorphin/KOR system unchecked, possibly inducing a negative emotional state that is characteristic of ASD. Future attention may need to be focused on understanding on how early-life mercury exposures, such as in vaccines, may or may not reveal a gestational opiate dependence induced from other ASD-implicated environmental factors.     

流域环境系统演化概念模型:山-河-湖-海互动及对全球变化的敏感响应--以长江为例

流域是一个复杂的环境系统。长江流域环境研究表明,山-河-湖-海互动是流域环境系统变化的实质,同时也是流域对全球变化响应最敏感、最直接的体现。地貌过程变化,水、沙等物理通量变化,C、P、N等化学通量变化是系统内各子系统之间联系的纽带,也是流域环境系统中最活跃的因子。以山-河-湖-海互动为核心的流域环境系统模型,主要包括：山、河、湖、海各系统之间的能量流与物质流的输入、迁移和输出理论,系统演化平衡理论和系统自组织、自反馈理论。     

Quantifying effects of oxidant air pollutants on agricultural crops

Estimating risks of air pollution damage to agricultural crops requires identifying crop location and size, likely doses, models for translating dose to response, and measures of response appropriate for economic analysis. Assessment of risk requires compatible data sets for each of these variables. Analysis of air pollution mixtures suggests that oxidant crop damage is caused by three compounds: ozone, nitrogen oxides, and peroxyacetylnitrates. The phytotoxicity of ozone, the most prevalent photochemical oxidant, has been studied more extensively than the other two oxidants, and its effects on vegetation are best understood. Response of vegetation to air pollutants was first characterized by foliar or visible injury. Subsequent research indicated that foliar injury did not translate directly into reduced plant growth or yield, which can be measured. Response to air pollutants may be influenced by physical, biological, and environmental factors. Inherent genetic resistance is probably the most important single factor affecting plant response, although environmental factors influencing stomatal aperture may also be important. For several crops open-top chamber studies and cross sectional analyses of field data provide adequate information to develop dose-response functions. All of these studies have both strengths and weaknesses. Although a number of different models exist for selected crops, there is no single biological or statistical criterion which identifies the best or most accurate model.     

海西区城市化质量空间演变与影响因素

从经济社会发展质量、城市化发展效率、环境发展质量、居民生活条件和城乡差距等5方面,遴选了19个影响城市化质量的关键表征指标,利用因子分析法构建了海西区城市化质量综合评价指标体系,分析了海西区城市化质量时空演化特征与驱动力。研究表明：2005～2014年海西区城市化质量总体呈上升趋势且大部分城市的城市化质量增长幅度正向加速,但城市间发展速度差距逐渐拉大;2009～2014年各城市间空间相互影响作用较大,呈现较显著的空间溢出效应和空间分化现象,极化中心带集中于东部沿海地区;“经济社会发展质量”、“城市化发展效率”、“环境发展质量”是影响推动城市化质量发展的主要驱动因素;大部分城市的“经济社会发展质量”与“城市化发展效率”呈相似发展趋势,“经济社会发展质量”与“环境发展质量”的发展呈相反趋势,较为发达城市受各因子影响弹性较小,中小城市对因子影响较为敏感。     

The NEP scale: measuring ecological attitudes/worldviews in an African context

Given the significance of human behavior as a major driver of most environmental problems, it is generally agreed that efforts to promote global ecological and economic sustainability must now include attempts to understand public perceptions of, and attitudes toward, environmental issues. Research findings generally indicate that attitudes are important determinants of ecological behaviors, and over time, scientists have strived to develop sound measurement instruments for studying public environmental attitudes. Of these attitude measures, the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale stands out as being the most widely accepted with documented validity and reliability. In this study, the NEP scale was used to examine environmental attitudes among 355 university students in Ibadan, Nigeria. Overall, the Nigerian students were found to have a lower endorsement of the pro-ecological ideologies included in the NEP compared with similar samples from other cultural contexts. However, a strong consensus was observed among the sample on the fragility of nature’s balance and possibility of eco-crisis facets of the NEP. The findings of the study are discussed in the context of relevant Nigerian social and cultural factors, and recommendations for future research are provided.     

收入差距是否影响环境质量?——国内外研究综述

近年来,收入差距扩大与环境质量恶化成为许多国家同时面临的问题,也让一些经济学家开始思考,这两者之间是否存在关联。继20世纪90年代环境库兹涅茨曲线提出以来,一些研究发现不仅收入的绝对水平会对环境质量产生影响,收入差距对环境质量也有影响。本文对这一课题的理论研究进行了梳理,发现现有理论中收入差距对环境质量的影响途径主要有三条。第一条途径是消费者途径,即收入差距影响着以消费为主的个人经济行为,进一步影响着社会消费总量和消费结构,及其过程中产生的污染总量。第二条途径是企业途径,即认为收入差距的扩大会削弱环保型产品的正外部性,不利于环保技术的创新活动,对未来环境质量的改善产生动态影响。第三条途径是政府途径,即认为收入差距会影响相关的环境政策方式与强度选择;而且在不同的社会政策决策机制下,收入差距对环境政策的影响也是不同的,现有的社会决策机制分析框架主要有两种——权利权重型社会决策规则和简单多数规则。此外,本文还对现存的主要实证研究进行了总结,发现大多数研究结论都支持收入差距对环境质量存在着影响,但这种影响并不是线性的。一方面,收入差距对环境的影响与研究的污染物种类有关,大多数研究都显示,收入不平等对CO 2排放和土壤污染存在着负向影响,但有关收入差距对空气污染和水污染影响的研究结论并不统一或并不显著。另一方面,这种影响还与经济发展水平相关,在高收入国家与低收入国家是不同的,存在着阈值效应。最后本文总结了针对中国的研究现状,讨论了其在我国的适用性。     

Socio-cultural valuation of ecosystem services in a transhumance social-ecological network

The ecosystem services framework is receiving increasing attention in the fields of policy and research. The assessment of human attitudes and perceptions regarding ecosystem services has been proposed as a promising tool for addressing complex problems associated with environmental change, particularly in the context of cultural landscapes. Transhumance is not only a farming practice responsible for shaping cultural landscapes but also an adaptive strategy based on mobility that may represent a useful approach to overcoming the growing challenges posed by accelerated environmental change. A socio-cultural valuation of ecosystem services associated with the Conquense Drove Road, one of the major transhumant networks still in use in Mediterranean Spain, was conducted via the distribution of questionnaires to 416 local residents and visitors to capture their perceptions regarding the importance of 34 ecosystem services (10 provisioning, 12 regulating, and 12 cultural) for both social and personal well-being. Overall, the ecosystem services considered to be the most important for social well-being were fire prevention, air purification and livestock. Most of the ecosystem services in question were perceived as declining, with the exception of those associated with recreation, scientific knowledge and environmental education. This study revealed that perceptions regarding the value of ecosystem services differed among respondents, depending on their age, place of origin and gender. Several methodological issues, as well as the implications of socio-cultural valuation for policy making, are also discussed here.     

空气负离子研究进展及影响因素分析

空气负离子保健作用受到人们的普遍关注,其浓度是衡量空气清洁度的重要指标之一,在空气环境质量评价中日益受到重视。从医学健康、环境卫生、工农业、生态旅游四个方面论述了空气负离子在国内外的研究进展,并结合最新研究成果,综述了负离子在不同气象因子、海拔高度、植被、区域、时段下的浓度变化规律。在此基础上,对空气负离子未来研究方向提出建议,为空气负离子进一步研究提供参考和借鉴。     

城市可持续发展的关键自然资本研究

城市是社会、经济与环境相互作用最为集中与深刻的区域，随着城市环境问题的日益严重，城市可持续发展成为共同关注的焦点。自然资本在可持续发展体系中起到关键的作用，因此，识别城市系统的关键自然资本是实现城市可持续发展的前提。通过分析城市绿色空间的生态服务功能，结果表明绿色空间是影响城市可持续发展的重要的自然资本。在此基础上，提出了通过保护与投资于绿色空间两种途径实现城市可持续发展的措施与建议。     

基于地理探测器的城市热岛驱动因素分析——以武汉市为例

城市热岛是由地表特征、社会经济和气象等因素综合引起的环境问题，具有显著的季节差异。大量的研究分析了土地覆盖类型、地表覆盖指数、景观指数等和城市热岛之间的相互关系，忽略了气象因素以及气象因素、地表特征与社会经济之间的交互作用对城市热岛的影响。在分析武汉市不同季节热岛强度及空间自相关分析的基础上，采用地理探测器研究了不同季节城市热岛强度的驱动因素及其交互作用和热岛风险区探测。结果表明：武汉市各季节热岛强度在空间上呈现强烈的集聚特征。按春夏秋冬顺序，武汉市4个季节热岛强度的主要驱动因素分别为地表特征、社会经济、社会经济和气象因素，四季对应的主要驱动因子分别是土地覆盖类型、夜间灯光、夜间灯光和气压。在11个驱动因子的交互影响中，四季热岛强度交互影响作用最大的分别为土地覆盖类型与夜间灯光、土地覆盖类型与NDVI、土地覆盖类型与夜间灯光、气压与土地覆盖类型或与NDVI。风险探测结果显示春夏秋冬平均热岛强度最高的分别为城市建成区、城市建成区、城市建成区、裸地和低植被覆盖区，最低的分别是水体、水体、水体、植被；四季的平均城市热岛强度随着夜间灯光的增加而增加；NDVI子区域平均热岛强度呈现先上升后下降的趋势；气压子区域平均热岛强度总体呈现逐步上升的趋势。这些结果揭示了热岛强度的季节变异特征，可为缓解城市热岛效应措施的制订提供依据。     

环境治理的社会规范路径

环境问题的根源在于人类的行为,引导个体实施环境友好行为是环境治理的基本思路。环境社会规范会对环境行为产生重要的影响,是环境治理的重要路径。本研究在阐述社会规范的种类及其作用机制的基础上,借鉴环境社会规范激活的相关理论,阐明环境社会规范激活的影响因素及环境社会规范作用于环境行为的基本机理,分析中国环境社会规范激活存在的障碍,提出政府通过促进环境社会规范的激活来治理环境所应当采取的措施。研究结论表明,整体环境社会规范的激活水平决定着环境社会规范对环境行为的作用力,其取决于相互影响的环境描述性规范、环境命令性规范、环境个人规范的激活水平以及外部约束条件。由于受到客观物质生活条件的制约,中国环境社会规范的激活存在一些障碍,导致环境社会规范激活处于较低的水平,这些主要的障碍包括环境消极描述性规范反向作用大、环境个人规范激活水平低和行为的成本、行为的技术障碍、行为的便利性等外部因素的制约突出。在此,提出的建议是政府相关部门可以采取积极措施,通过提高环境社会规范的激活水平来达到环境治理的目标。政府相关部门可通过描述性规范信息的传递提高环境描述性规范激活水平。环境宣传教育中通过生态价值观确立、环境污染行为不利后果的明确认知、环境不利后果避免的正确归因来提高环境个人规范的激活水平。通过降低遵守环境社会规范的难度和成本消除环境社会规范激活的外部制约因素。通过完善环境立法并强化环境法的实施可有效提高环境描述性规范、环境命令性规范、环境个人规范的激活水平,从而提高整体环境社会规范的激活水平。     

Probabilistic modeling of young children's overall lead exposure in France: integrated approach for various exposure media

OBJECTIVES: Emissions of lead into the environment (and thus its environmental concentrations) have decreased in recent years. We sought to estimate the overall lead exposure of children aged 6 months to 6 years (the population group most exposed and most sensitive to lead) in France through the various media (air, food, water, soils, and dust) and the respective contributions of each medium to the total dose. We have focused on the general population, leaving aside specific risk factors such as deteriorated lead paints. METHODS: We used the most recent French intake data for food and water, and a daily ingested quantity selected from the literature for soils and dust. Contamination data came from the first total diet study of contaminant levels in France (2000-2001), from regulatory testing of tap water (2004), a literature review of lead in urban soils, and a pilot study (2005) of lead in dust. Air quality monitoring measurements showed that the contribution of air could now be safely ignored. Weekly exposure doses were estimated with Monte Carlo simulations. RESULTS: Median weekly exposure dose was 7.5 microg/kg bw.week for children aged 6 months to 3 years and 4.7 for those aged from 3-6 years. 95th percentiles were 13.5 and 8.7 microg/kg bw.week. Exposure came mainly from food. The principal uncertainties are associated with quantification limits in food and water, representativeness and traceability of tap water samples, and absence of recent data about urban soil contamination. CONCLUSIONS: These results differ quite notably from earlier estimates and highlight the need, especially for policy-making purposes, to update exposure measurements for this metal.     

Nonformal environmental education: a case study with farmers in a town of the South Minas Gerais state,Brazil

Brazil is a central place in the international agricultural markets and this fact has been demanding environmentally oriented agricultural practices by Brazilian farmers and professionals involved in the agricultural market chain. A concise and structured questionnaire was applied to obtain the environmental perception of a group of Brazilian farmers in a town of the south Minas Gerais state, using herbicides as the topic for a case study. A highly variable opinion about taking the environment into account when choosing the most appropriate herbicide was found. Anyway, efficacy has been indicated as the most important factor when choosing an herbicide, followed by the environment and price. The outcomes from the questionnaires, i.e. the insufficient conception and importance given to environment when choosing the herbicide, motivated the creation of a teaching-learning model for the nonformal environmental education using the concept of socio-ecological resilience. This routine puts in practice the resilience thinking currently invoked as a major tool to achieve the conservation of the socio-ecological system, as well as it is complimentary to the outcome-oriented optimization for conservation theory. For the case study about farmers and the use of herbicides, we conclude that a complex reasoning and, ultimately, pro-environmental actions can be improved after experiencing the recommended model for environmental education.     

Sustainable cropping pattern in North Iran: application of fuzzy goal programming

Due to the important role that the application of mathematical programming models have in determining optimal cropping patterns, this research presents a sustainable cropping pattern that considers selected economic, environmental, and social goals together. Using a random sampling method, a sample size of 168 farmers was selected in the Sari County, Iran. Our results showed that economic, self-sufficiency, environmental, and social goals have a distinctly different impact on cropping pattern performance. Compared to the current cropping pattern, the gross margins for economic and social goals increased by nearly 11 and 2 %, respectively, and the gross margins for self-sufficiency and environmental goals decreased by nearly 2 and 36 %. Interestingly, it has been found that the performance of the current cropping pattern has an average positive impact of 6 % if economic, self-sufficiency, environmental, and social (employment) goals are realized simultaneously.     

The relationship between socio-economic indicators and air pollution in England and Wales: implications for environmental justice

This paper investigates the distribution of three common air pollutants, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and fine particulates (PM₁₀), in England and Wales with respect to social class, ethnicity and population density. A multilevel model is used to demonstrate regional differences in the social distribution of pollution. The results show that, allowing for ethnicity and population density, there are different relationships between socio-economic status and exposure to air pollution within different regions in England and Wales. These differences suggest that national legislation introduced to reduce air pollution levels may give rise to environmental injustice, with geographical and social differences in the costs and benefits arising to the population due to such legislation. Received: 24 February 1999 / Accepted: 2 September 1999     

自愿型环境规制:研究进展及未来展望

环境规制工具的选择决定了生态环境保护的成效,环境规制研究也是当前资源环境领域的研究热点之一。根据政府赋予被规制对象自由裁量权空间从小到大,可以将规制工具分为纯粹政府规制、元规制、自我规制、无约束的自由四种类型。既有研究对传统的纯粹政府规制工具给予了大量的关注,相比而言,对元规制和自我规制等自愿型环境规制工具的关注相对较少。已有的自愿型环境规制的研究主要从俱乐部物品理论、制度主义理论、利益相关者理论等视角出发,探讨自愿型环境规制的供给和需求问题。自愿型环境规制工具作为一种俱乐部物品,实践中面临的最大挑战在于如何克服企业的“搭便车”行为。现有的实证研究分别将自愿型环境规制作为自变量和因变量,分别探究①自愿型环境规制对企业环境绩效和经济创新绩效的影响,以及②企业参与自愿型环境规制的内外部动因。对比国内外文献我们发现,目前基于中国的社会经济背景下的自愿型环境规制的研究非常欠缺,这主要是因为中国在环境规制领域具有长期使用纯粹政府规制工具的传统,自愿型环境规制的实践较为欠缺,目前在中国实践较为广泛的自愿型环境规制工具仅有ISO14001环境管理体系以及化工行业的“责任关怀”体系。最后,本文基于现有对于中国自愿型环境规制研究的不足,展望了未来研究可能的方向。我们认为既有对于自愿型环境规制的研究更多关注对企业绩效的因果效应,而对其如何影响企业绩效的因果机制识别不足;此外,现有文献很少将中国特色的政治、经济、社会因素纳入自愿型环境规制的研究领域,未来的研究应当多从这两个方面着手深入。     

Analysis of the relationship between environmental policies and air quality during major social events

Based on an analysis of major recent social events in China, such as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, 2010 Shanghai World Expo, 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, and 2014 Beijing Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference, mandatory, temporary, and indemnificatory quantitative policies aimed at protecting air quality, which were carried out by both central and local governments, made substantial contributions to changes and improvements in air quality. To some extent, the findings show that command and control measures play a significant role in protecting air quality, while the law and economic and voluntary environmental safeguard measures do not during major social events. Therefore, it reminds us the air quality could and will improve not only during major social events but also in the regular days if we implement appropriate environmental policies and safeguard measures.     

Can Science Writing Collectives Overcome Barriers to More Democratic Communication and Collaboration? Lessons from Environmental Communication Praxis in Southern Appalachia

Despite compelling reasons to involve nonscientists in the production of ecological knowledge, cultural and institutional factors often dis-incentivize engagement between scientists and nonscientists. This paper details our efforts to develop a biweekly newspaper column to increase communication between ecological scientists, social scientists, and the communities within which they work. Addressing community-generated topics and written by a collective of social and natural scientists, the column is meant to foster public dialog about socio-environmental issues and to lay the groundwork for the coproduction of environmental knowledge. Our collective approach to writing addresses some major barriers to public engagement by scientists, but the need to insert ourselves as intermediaries limits these gains. Overall, our efforts at environmental communication praxis have not generated significant public debate, but they have supported future coproduction by making scientists a more visible presence in the community and providing easy pathways for them to begin engaging the public. Finally, this research highlights an underappreciated barrier to public engagement: scientists are not merely disconnected from the public, but also connected in ways that may be functional for their research. Many field scientists, for example, seek out neutral and narrowly defined connections that permit research access but are largely incompatible with efforts to address controversial issues of environmental governance.     

The association between rural–urban migration flows and urban air quality in China

In light of the rapid urbanization of the world’s population over the past decades, there is a growing concern about the environmental impacts of urban population growth. Rural–urban migration is a particularly important component of the urbanization process in developing countries and is often considered to be detrimental to urban environmental conditions. However, few studies have explicitly examined the presumed negative impacts of in-migration on the natural environment of cities. The continuously increasing volume of rural–urban labor migration in China since the early 1980s has formed the largest population flow in world history. This study links the existing literature on population–environment and urbanization–environment interactions by empirically assessing the relationship between rural–urban migration and urban air conditions in China. A two-period (2004 and 2010) longitudinal dataset for the 113 key environmental protection cities of China was constructed based on multiple data sources. We applied the STIRPAT equation using conventional and spatial panel regression models to examine whether rural–urban migration flows were associated with air pollution in cities. Results show a strong negative association of in-migration with urban air quality even after controlling for the effects of other population, affluence, and technology factors. Findings from this research can contribute to a better understanding of the environmental consequences of rural–urban migration in China, with broader implications for sustainable development research and policies.     

Manufacturing system sustainability through lean and agile initiatives

Sustainability is one of the most critical issues facing manufacturers today. The industries must develop new and innovative approaches to ensure sustainability in economic, environmental and social aspects. The operational excellence strategies such as Lean and Agile manufacturing can be applied in the industries that add value to the product by eliminating waste and quickly respond to dynamic changes in demand. This paper presents a framework that builds and assesses the sustainability of the manufacturing system with combined lean and agile concepts. Analytical Hierarchy Process and Analytical Network Process are identified as suitable methodologies to analyze the model. The model is validated in an Ayurveda Pharmaceutical industry to identify the most important factors of lean and agile manufacturing that build and enable the sustainability dimensions such as Economic, Environmental, Social, Technological and Ethical. The results show that the industry focuses more on economic aspects of sustainability followed by social, environmental, ethics and technological dimensions of sustainability in the case of a lean perspective. For an agile perspective, the weightage is more for social dimension followed by ethics, economic, technological and environmental dimensions of sustainability.