Planning for Water Quality: Implementation of the NPDES Phase II Stormwater Program in California and Kansas

In the United States, the federal government is increasingly relying on local governments to implement policies that address the nation's lingering environmental problems. Yet, little is known about the factors that influence local level implementation of a federal mandate. This paper explores local government response to the NPDES Phase II Stormwater Program in California and Kansas by investigating local conditions, perceptions of the federal program, and implementer characteristics. The study found that fiscal resources, a well-educated public, positive perceptions of the federal policy, and co-operative planning efforts lead to better compliance with the mandate and a higher quality response.     

Food Security in Protracted Crises: Building More Effective Policy Frameworks

This paper considers the principal elements that underpin policy frameworks for supporting food security in protracted crisis contexts. It argues that maintaining the food entitlements of crisis-affected populations must extend beyond interventions to ensure immediate human survival. A 'policy gap' exists in that capacities for formulating policy responses to tackle the different dimensions of food insecurity in complex, fluid crisis situations tend to be weak. As a result, standardised, short-term intervention designs are created that fall short of meeting the priority needs of affected populations in the short and long term and only partially exploit the range of policy options available. The paper discusses key attributes of agency frameworks that could support more effective policy processes to address longer term as well as immediate food security needs. Additionally, it points to some main challenges likely to be encountered in developing such frameworks and, with the participation of beneficiaries, translating them into effective action.     

安全稳定是构建和谐校园的基础

安全是人类社会共同关心的主题,没有安全就没有稳定,没有安全就没有改革,没有安全也就没有发展,没有安全,和谐社会的实施也会夭折,所以校园的安全稳定在今天显得尤为重要."安全第一"的思想不单是各行各业的基本要求,更是学校办学的基本需要.安全稳定是构建和谐校园社会的基础.没有稳定,和谐校园就会失去安定祥和,失去赖以生存的校园基础.安全稳定在校园的地位需要提高,现状需要分析,内容需要丰富,方式方法需要改进.     

Media and bushfires: A community perspective of the media during the Grampians Fires 2006

This paper examines the ways residents in the Grampians area in the Australian state of Victoria used their local and their state and national based media before, during and after the 2006 bushfires (wildfires). The researchers were particularly concerned to understand how residents evaluated media sources as trustworthy and credible in relation to bushfire warnings and information about the fires delivered in the media.Analysis of data derived from two separate focus group sessions conducted by the researchers reveals four main themes. (1) The media are perceived as part of a broader information gathering process. (2) Local knowledge is the most important aspect in broadcast information. (3) Members of small communities can feel disenfranchised and resentful of the media when media coverage focuses on larger towns, and (4) the effects of media reporting, including specific warnings, are both immediate and long lasting.The paper explores some of the tensions that result from the ways rural residents use and distinguish between local/regional and metropolitan and out-of-state bushfire information; and it encourages better use of the local/regional media to increase community safety and awareness in relation to bushfire mitigation, preparedness and crisis management issues before, during and after the fires. It is suggested that risk communications professionals need to understand that when mediated risk-related communications are provided, a key evaluative criterion is whether or not those media and the messages represent and reflect local knowledge.     

Distribution of planktonic bacteria capable of degrading sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) in a polluted South Wales river

The temporal and geographical distributions of planktonic bacteria, and their ability to degrade sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) (AS(+) phenotype), in a polluted South Wales river, is reported for five sites source to estuary sampled during a one-year period. The annual mean prevalence of AS(+) isolates at all sites was 8.1-16.0% of the total number of isolates, and these values were not altered by including SDS in culture media. Although the proportion of AS(+) isolates in clean water at the source was not significantly different to that of polluted sites, the AS(+) cell density was lower at the source because of its lower overall numbers. The percentage of AS(+) isolates in estuarine water was higher than at the three polluted mid-river sites, but when cell numbers were taken into account, the AS(+) cell density was the same at all polluted sites including the estuary. There was no correlation between percentage of AS(+) and either BOD or oxygen concentration, but AS(+) isolates were significantly more prevalent at the end of summer. Of the AS(+) isolates, more than half contained constitute alkysulphate enzymes, the remainder being induced or repressed by SDS; the relative proportions of enzyme regulatory type did not vary significant between sites or at different sampling times.     

A Critical Appraisal of Field Evidence From A Regional Survey for Acid Deposition Effects On Scottish Moorland Podzols

Samples have been collected from major horizons of 34 podzol profiles distributed throughout Scotland, all developed from granite or granitic tills and under Calluna moorland. the pH in water and calcium chloride pastes, exchangeable cations and cation exchange capacity, and extractable aluminium of the soils collected have been measured, and the results studied in relation to reported atmospheric deposition of H⁺, non-marine sulphur and nitrate. for all horizons, significant positive correlations were found between soil pH and rainfall mean pH, as might be expected when the critical load of H⁺ deposition is exceeded. Acidifying pollutant deposition also apparently increased soil extractable aluminium concentrations in the B and C horizons. However, exchangeable base cation concentrations tended to increase, rather than decrease, with increasing precipitation acidity. This effect was attributed to increases in biogeochemical cycling of base cations, increases in leaching inputs of base cations from overlying A/E horizon soils, and increases in the inputs of base cations leached from upslope. the results suggest that the simple steady state mass approach to the quantification of critical loads, as often applied, may be an oversimplification.     

SEDIMENT CHEMISTRY AS INFLUENCED BY VEGETATION AND BEDROCK IN THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES1

ABSTRACT We hypothesized that sediment from small watersheds with uniform bedrock and a single vegetative community would have uniform chemical characteristics for the sand and fine (silt and clay) size fractions. Channel sediment was collected from three vegetative communities (spruce-fir, mixed conifer, and Ponderosa pine), each on four bedrock types (basalt, limestone, sandstone, and granite), and analyzed for digestable Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cu, Mn, Fe, Zn; total N and P; extractable Ca, Mg, K; cation exchange capacity; and organic matter. With the exception of organic matter content in the sand size fraction, either vegetation, bedrock, or their interaction were significant in explaining the observed variation for all analyses in both size fractions. Replicate studies of sites with similar bedrock and vegetation combinations are needed to determine if each watershed has similar or unique sediment chemistry.     

汽车EPS系统的行车工况补偿控制策略

针对汽车在常见转向工况时转向的操纵性和安全性不足问题,提出将常见工况补偿控制策略融合到汽车EPS助力控制中,将汽车速度、汽车质量、方向盘左右晃动考虑在内,设计了高速避让、低速满载、颠簸路面3种补偿控制策略;并理论分析加入高速避让、低速满载、颠簸路面3种补偿策略后,方向盘、齿条位移和汽车横摆角速度增减值的变化;最后,通过搭建汽车EPS系统模型和二自由度汽车模型进行仿真验证。仿真结果表明,采用补偿控制策略后,汽车在高速、低速大重量及于凹凸不平的路面行驶时,助力电机目标电流的获取与汽车行驶的内外环境紧密相连,且可随行车条件的改变而适时改变,使汽车EPS系统具有了更好的操纵性和安全性。