长三角城市群生态城市建设定量评价

长江三角洲是我国发育最为成熟的城市聚集区,随着城市发展主流趋势--生态城市的日益兴起,区内各城市相继开展了生态城市建设,并取得了相当的成效。但是在生态城市建设过程中还不可避免地存在着城市复合生态系统不协调发展、生态城市建设程度难以定量以及片面定量的问题。试从长三角城市群社会经济和地域情况入手,构建具有地方特色的生态城市建设指标体系,并采用城市生态指数、城市协调度指数和生态城市综合指数来分别衡量长三角城市群内各城市的生态化水平、城市协调发展水平和生态城市建设程度。结果表明：（1）长三角城市群15个城市中,苏州生态城市建设程度较好,而南通则略差;（2）只有城市的全面协调发展,才能建成可持续发展的生态城市。     

城市绿色廊道的生态规划方法探究

城市绿色廊道的生态规划是当今国际上重要的城市可持续发展途径之一。本文界定了绿色廊道的概念、特征、类型与作用;然后概述了城市绿色廊道在中西方的发展历程,重点分析了西方绿色廊道各发展阶段的表现形式和规划思想;最后,在此基础上探讨性地提出一套切实可行的适用于当前我国城市绿色廊道的生态规划方法。绿色廊道的生态规划将利于构筑城市绿色生态网络,有效改善城市环境并引导城市健康发展,促进城市可持续发展。     

城市生长管理与城市生态规划

本文从城市生长机制着手 ,论述了生态位的竞争与演化以及导致城市结构和空间的变化 ;城市管理模式随着城市功能的转变而从后果导向转向原因导向的生长管理。并提出在生长机制研究的基础上进行城市生态规划 ,重点应突出生态评价、生态功能分区及定量模拟     

基于生态城市建设的资源可持续利用研究 ——以常州市为例

各类资源是生态城市建设的基础条件，也是塑造城市特色的重要依据之一。基于生态城市建设的资源可持续利用，不仅要重视资源的数量问题，更需要着眼全局，综合分析城市社会、经济、环境发展的现状、目标与资源之间的矛盾，制定资源可持续利用的保障对策。基于生态城市的深刻内涵，资源可持续利用的研究视野亟待拓展，不仅要关注自然资源、生物资源的可持续利用问题，同时还必须重视对城市人文禀赋与历史文脉的传承和保护，实现古代、近代、现代和当代“四代文明”可持续发展。以常州市为例，基于生态城市建设，对其土地资源、水资源、生物资源与人文资源的可持续利用进行了系统研究,并作了概念性规划。     

长江流域城市生态环境问题与跨世纪持续发展战略

综合分析评价了长江流域城市的生态环境态势与问题,城市水环境依然恶化,特别是城市内河道,湖泊水质多污染严重。城市大气污染仍是加重趋向,一些特大城市汽车尾气污染上升,城市酸雨依然严重。城市生态问题沉重,绿地不足,热岛加重,地面沉降,水土流失等。沉重的生态环境赤字已深刻影响到城市经济社会的发展。面对二十一世纪,论证了长江流域城市发展战略,走城市可持续发展之路是唯一战略选择,而建设现代化的山水园林生态城市     

循环经济型生态城市规划框架研究--以贵阳市为例

在城市层次上如何发展循环经济是一项全新的实践。本文以贵阳市为例探讨了循环经济型生态城市建设的规划框架。贵阳经济社会和资源环境的分析充分表明，利用循环经济模式建设生态城市是贵阳市的必然选择和最佳机遇，在这一战略指导下，本文构建了“一个目标，两个环节，三大核心系统，八大循环体系”的规划框架。     

基于景观格局演变的城市湿地景观生态规划途径

 综述城市湿地景观格局演变研究和城市湿地景观生态规划研究进展,认为城市湿地对城市可持续发展有重要意义,必须对其进行具有前瞻性的景观生态规划。分析景观过程和景观格局相互关系,结合目前城市湿地景观生态规划多流于现状的局限,提出基于景观格局演变的城市湿地景观生态规划途径,将城市湿地景观格局演变研究和城市湿地景观生态规划研究结合起来,使城市湿地景观生态规划包含时、空二维信息。该途径提出的目的是使城市湿地景观生态规划更具前瞻性,对城市可持续发展起到更大作用,并对构建城市湿地景观生态规划研究理论框架有积极意义。     

三峡库区城市消落带生态规划与保护探讨

三峡库区消落带因反季节涨落、落差大、面积广等特点,其生态环境的保护和恢复一直是困扰世界的难题。而位于城市区域的消落带,因受人类活动的干扰强度大,生态环境更易遭受破坏。根据消落带功能的不同,将城市消落带划分为生态景观区、生态屏障区和航运枢纽区3个功能区。根据消落带生态类型的不同,以坡度和高程作为消落带类型划分主要指标,将城市消落带划分为平坝阶地型 (0~15°)、缓坡型 (15~25°)、陡坡型 (>25°)3个坡类和145~155、155~170、170~175 m 3个区段。基于城市消落带的功能分区,根据其生态类型的划分,应用生态恢复和植物配置等原理和技术,因地制宜地提出了城市消落带的生态规划与保护方案,以充分发挥城市消落带拦截降解污染物、吸附削减营养盐、提供亲水空间及改善城市景观等综合功能,为城市消落带的生态规划与管理提供决策依据和科学支撑。     

基于SBM-DEA和Malmquist模型的武汉城市圈城市建设用地生态效率时空演变及其影响因素分析

城市建设用地生态效率是城市建设用地在生态建设方面产出与投入的比值,是衡量城市发展品质的重要内容。采用武汉城市圈2006~2015年的面板数据,通过SBM-DEA模型和Malmquist指数对武汉城市圈建设用地生态效率进行测算研究,并通过Tobit模型定量分析了各要素对武汉城市圈建设用地生态效率影响程度。研究结果表明:(1)2006~2015年武汉城市圈建设用地的生态综合效率值总体上呈现螺旋上升的状态,分解效率中纯技术效率是影响综合效率的关键因素;(2)城市圈建设用地生态演变过程可以划分为早期低效阶段、快速提升阶段、不稳定转型阶段;(3)武汉城市圈建设用地生态效率的增长阻力主要是由于技术进步的制约;(4)生态压力、工业发展水平和生态技术水平对城市圈建设用地生态效率产生显著负向影响,而生态投入和产业结构对城市建设用地生态效率产生显著正向影响。     

长江流域生态环境的保护与生态城市建设

从城市经济系统来看,生态城市既要保证经济的持续增长,更要保证增长率的质量。也就是说,生态城市要有合理的产业结构、能源结构和生产而局,使城市的经济系统和生态系统能协调发展,形成良性循环,实现城市经济社会与生态环境效益的统一。长江流域生态环境的恶化已经严重影响到整个长江流域经济的发展。长江流域生态城市建设就是把环境发展与生产力发展联系起来是以各大城市生态建设为主导把各个大城市建设成为全流域的生态城市中     

Resilience as Discourse

Resilience as a frame is increasingly appearing in grant funding, news stories, academic journals, and organization missions. Across these sites, resilience is positioned as an ability to cope, characterized by bouncing back, regaining control, and reducing vulnerability to change. How did resilience come to be understood in these terms? What are the problems with resilience's frames and the practices that produce them? How might we become resilient differently? Using a Foucaultian archaeology, I examine sites and practices that produce resilience as discourse. I analyze resilience's origins in biophysical sciences, systems perspectives that define ways of knowing, visual models that constrain the emergence of new ideas, and persistent dialectics that narrowly order relationships within the world. I propose changes in the discourse for more affective and ecological modes of becoming resilient.     

Environmental Communication as Nexus

This essay examines zoos as a site of struggle in the construction of meanings and memories of human–nature relations. Modern zoos are symbols of imperial power and celebrations of the domination of nature. The grafting of “tropic worlds” onto these monuments of modernity renders the meaning of zoos more ambiguous, reflecting discursive struggles over the meaning of nature, questions about the wisdom of development and progress, recognition of the need for conservation and preservation, and nostalgia for a nature that has been lost. Through a close textual reading of “The Rainforest” at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, this essay explores the simulation of nature in zoos and “tropic worlds” in North American cities. These hyperreal spaces contain an extraordinary amount of the history and politics of the culture that constructs them for fascination, edification, conservation, commodification, and salvation. At stake in these simulated natures is not only the constructions of nature as spectacle and animals as commodities, but also the use of knowledge to maintain certain forms of domination and the “writing” of industrial culture's historical memory of nature and human–nature relations.     

Gear oil formulation designed to meet bio-preferred criteria as well as give high performance

A bio-based gear oil was developed from soybean oil (SBO). The SBO was first thermally polymerised and then mixed with additives and diluents. The effect of pour point depressants, co-base oils, antioxidants and anti-wear additives is reported. Lubricity, viscosity index and oxidation stability of the final formulation of the bio-based gear oil are compared with commercially available gear oils. The final formulation of bio-based gear oil gives test results: viscosity index 165, four-ball wear scar 0.375 mm. These numbers are comparable to or better than the commercially available gear oils tested for comparison. The oxidation onset temperature of the bio-based gear oil, 220°C, is lower than the evaluated commercial products, but still at an acceptable range for gear oil.     

Amoebae as sources of hypersensitivity pneumonitis

Pulmonary hypersensitivity has been associated with inhalation of many diverse occupational and environmental airborne agents. Of biological materials, spores of thermophilic actinomycetes have been recognized frequently as causative agents of the disease. Amoebae have rarely been associated with inhalation hypersensitivity. However, recent isolation of several species of amoebae from heated humidification systems in homes and factories has prompted concern for the role of amoebae in hypersensitivity pneumonitis. In this study, an animal model was employed to investigate hypersensitivity to nonpathogenic Naegleria gruberi. Guinea pigs were sensitized by injection of axenic as well as nonaxenic N. gruberi emulsified in Freund's complete adjuvant. Animals were evaluated for three distinguishing characteristics of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Delayed-onset skin reactivity was apparent in all animals upon intradermal challenge with N. gruberi antigen. Test sites on animals sensitized with axenic N. gruberi developed extensive rashes lasting 96 h. Antibodies were detected in experimental animals. However, antibodies in animals sensitized with nonaxenic N. gruberi were directed mainly toward the bacteria Enterobacter aerogenes, which was used as the feeder culture. This finding points out the importance of using axenic cultures of amoebae. Bronchial provocation challenge was employed to investigate pulmonary hypersensitivity. Animals sensitized with axenic N. gruberi displayed delayed-onset respiratory responses beginning 6 h post challenge. The study indicates that attention should be given to nonpathogenic free living amoebae as causative agents of hypersensitivity pneumonitis.     

The carbon footprint of water treatment as well as sewer and sanitation utilities of Pamplona in Colombia

Environment, Development and Sustainability - At a global level, it has been scientifically reported that the processes of water purification, management and disposal of wastewater, and solid waste...     

Environment as the Stage for Economic Actors

The relative importance of economics and environment in debate may soon be reversed due to the influence of three fac- tors. Firstly, in the global economy it is hard to hide the unwanted products of economic processes. Secondly, huge advances in sci- ence will reduce the imperfect knowledge of markets, making some monitoring and analyzing tools show the design of sensible and equitable livelihood in communities, which is more important than the motivation of maximising profits for some individuals or firms. Thirdly, China, as the last major player on the planet to take on economic growth, comes from traditions fundamentally differ- ent from those economies that have experienced the Industrial Revolution previously. Its challenges with sustainability and en- vironmental conservation predate Western economics by millennia, and it is implementing policies domestically and starting to work on the world stage that acknowledges that the surroundings are the host for any economic and socio-political system.     

Environmental Communication as a Discipline of Crisis

This essay interprets Cox's keynote as a call for environmental communication to reorient itself as a form of ideological criticism and identifies the potential pitfalls of heeding that call. First, the author revisits key arguments surrounding the practice of ideological criticism in Communication Studies and articulates their relevance to discussions about the mission and purpose of environmental communication. Second, he suggests that an uncritical embrace of the rationale for a “crisis discipline” may perpetuate problematic assumptions about communication, both as a social practice and as a scholarly discipline. Third, he argues that such problems may be sidestepped by making environmental crisis itself a central concept and object of environmental communication inquiry, such that environmental communication does not merely respond to crisis but becomes a discipline of and about crisis. A focus on the dynamics of crisis, the author concludes, entails a persistent concern with judgment in its political, scholarly, and pedagogical contexts.     

Media Representations of Water Issues as Health Risks

ABSTRACT

Water is a critical natural resource for sustaining human life. Media representations are a factor in the formation of public risk perceptions and could influence water conservation and health promotion behaviors. The objective of this research is to identify how newspaper media in four Western U.S. states frame the public health risks associated with water resources. Researchers conducted a content analysis of 326 newspaper articles from eight major newspapers focusing on water resource issues published during a three-year period between January 2012 and December 2014. Results indicate that health risks associated with water are seldom mentioned, and that the risks most frequently covered with regard to water resources are those with direct and immediate impacts to area residents. Findings suggest that media coverage may not be consistent with the nature of health impacts associated with water, which often are long-term.