Academic publishing in disaster risk reduction: past,present, and future

Nowadays there are approximately 80 Anglophone journals that deal primarily with disaster risk reduction (DRR) and allied fields. This large array signals a sustained, if uneven, growth in DRR scholarship but also competition between the offerings of different publishers and institutions. The purpose of this article is first to summarise the development of academic publishing on DRR from its early beginnings to the present day. The paper then evaluates the current state of publishing in this field and discusses possible future trends. Next, it identifies some possible opportunities, challenges, expectations, and commitments for journal editors both within DRR and academia more broadly, including those that refer to changes in the use of terminology, the relentless increase in the number of papers submitted, the expansion and dangers of predatory journals, different peer review models, open access versus paywalls, citations and bibliography metrics, academic social networks, and copyright and distribution issues.     

The Use of the Isotopic Composition of Individual Compounds for Correlating Spilled Oils and Refined Products in the Environment with Suspected Sources

Correlation of crude oils, or refined products, in the environment with suspected sources is typically undertaken through the use of GC and GCMS and in certain cases bulk carbon isotope compositions. However, with crude condensates, or refined products in particular, the absence, or low concentration, of biomarkers precludes their successful use for making unique correlations. An alternative and, sometimes, complimentary technique for correlation of such products is evolving through the use of combined gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GCIRMS). This approach permits determination of the carbon and hydrogen isotopic composition of individual compounds in the crude oil or refined product to produce isotopic fingerprints for use in correlation studies. In this paper, it is proposed to review applications of GCIRMS to the correlation of various spilled products with their suspected sources in different environments. Whilst not proposing that this technique will replace GC or GCMS; it is proposed that GCIRMS is a very powerful tool to be used in conjunction with GC and GCMS to make such correlations. Although isotopic fractionation has been observed in some of the lighter components such as benzene and toluene, higher carbon numbered compounds, say above C 10 , do not appear to undergo any significant isotopic fractionation as a result of weathering. Furthermore with refined products, isotopic fractionation of the lighter components has the potential to demonstrate the onset of natural attenuation of refined products in the environment.     

Agricultural vulnerability over the Chinese Loess Plateau in response to climate change: Exposure,sensitivity, and adaptive capacity

Understanding how the vulnerability of agricultural production to climate change can differ spatially has practical significance to sustainable management of agricultural systems worldwide. Accordingly, this study developed a conceptual framework to assess the agricultural vulnerability of 243 rural counties on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Indicators representing the climate/agriculture interface were selected to describe exposure and sensitivity, while stocks of certain capitals were used to describe adaptive capacity. A vulnerability index for each county was calculated and the spatial distribution was mapped. Results showed that exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity occur independently, with most contributing indicator values concentrated in a narrow range after normalization. Within the 49 most vulnerable counties, which together encompass 81 % of the vulnerability index range, 42 were characterized by high exposure and sensitivity but low adaptive capacity. The most vulnerable area was found to be located in the central northeast–southwest belt of Loess Plateau. Adaptation measures for both ecological restoration and economic development are needed and potential adaptation options need further investigation.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0727-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Radical scavenging and antiproliferative effect of novel phenolic derivatives isolated from Nerium indicum against human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7)—an in silico and in vitro approach

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Multiple drug resistance and increased side effects due to allopathic drugs has warned scientific community with a global alarm to identify molecules...     

Disaster studies inside out

Disaster studies is faced with a fascinating anomaly: frequently it claims to be critical and innovative, as suggested by the so‐called vulnerability paradigm that emerged more than 40 years ago, yet often it is perpetuating some of the core and problematic tenets of the hazard paradigm that we were asked to challenge initially. This paper interrogates why such an anomaly persists. In so doing, it employs Antonio Gramsci's concept of hegemony to unpack why disaster studies is still dominated by Western epistemologies and scholars that perpetuate an orientalist view of disasters. Ultimately, it suggests a research agenda for the 40 years to come, which builds on the importance of local researchers analysing local disasters using local epistemologies, especially in the non‐Western world. Such subaltern disaster studies are to be fuelled by increasing consciousness of the need to resist the hegemony of Western scholarship and to relocate disaster studies within the realm of its original political agenda.     

Monitored natural attenuation forum: The use of carbon isotope analysis at MNA sites

Stable carbon isotopes have been used in various applications for approximately 50 years, in many applications including the fields of medicine, criminology, and biology and recently has been used in the remediation field to track the degradation of various organic compounds. It is a commercially available investigation technology that is gaining in popularity and has unique applications related to monitored natural attenuation (MNA). To further discuss this technology and how it is used at MNA sites, we presented the following question to five guest panel members. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.