The practice of participatory research and gender analysis in natural resource management

Stakeholder participation is expected to improve the efficiency, equity, and sustainability of natural resource management research and development (R&D) projects by ensuring that research reflects users’ priorities, needs, capabilities, and constraints. Use of participatory methods and tools is growing rapidly; however, there is little systematic evidence about what participation actually means in practice, or about what difference it makes. Based on an inventory of 59 self‐described participatory R&D projects in the area of natural resource management, this article characterizes the typical project and analyzes how stakeholders are selected, how they participate in the research process, and what their involvement means for project costs and impacts. The results suggest that, while projects are generating a range of direct and indirect benefits for participants, more careful attention needs to be paid to achieving equitable impacts. Current practices may lag behind best practices in key areas, such as power sharing and participant selection, and may therefore be missing important contributions from women and other marginalized groups.     

Relationships among employees' work and nonwork responses

This study was concerned with an examination of the relationships among employee responses to the work setting. Responses in the work and nonwork spheres were examined, and an attempt made to determine the stability of the relationships across organizations. Data were obtained from 651 employees of five midwestern organizations using four data sources—structured interviews, on-the-job observations, supervisory ratings, and personnel records. The analysis indicated that, in general, employee reactions in the work and nonwork spheres loaded on separate factors, and that the relationships among employee responses were relatively stable across organizations. Some directions for future research on this issue are suggested.     

新型消毒副产物碘代乙酸急性暴露诱导斑马鱼肝脏氧化损伤的机理研究

具有较好水溶性的碘代乙酸是新型饮用水消毒副产物,其对水生生物的毒效应及机理备受关注.肝脏是鱼类发挥解毒作用的的主要组织,极易受化学污染物影响.本研究以模式水生动物斑马鱼(Danio rerio)为研究对象,采用半静态换水法,研究了碘代乙酸急性暴露诱导鱼体解毒功能组织氧化损伤的毒效应机理.暴露96 h后,相对于对照组,不同剂量碘代乙酸(1μg·L-1、10μg·L-1和100μg·L-1)暴露导致斑马鱼肝脏组织活性氧和丙二醛含量明显增加;超氧化物歧化酶和谷胱甘肽S转移酶活性增强,而过氧化氢酶活性降低;肝脏解毒过程标志性基因CYP1A、CYP3A和GST在mRNA水平表达量不断增加;这些指标的变化都呈现明显的剂量-效应特征.上述研究表明,饮用水消毒过程形成的碘代乙酸对水生生物具有明显的氧化应激效应,鱼体肝脏组织解毒功能基因相对于其它指标更敏感,可作为生物标志物.此外,应当加强饮用水消毒工艺研究,减少碘代乙酸等消毒副产物的形成以降低其对水生生态系统的潜在危害.     

Lead contamination in the roadside soils of Slovenia

The level of lead contamination along the roadway Ljubljana to Zagreb was established in 184 soil samples. The samples were taken from two depths (0–5cm and 15–20cm) and at different distances from the roadway. The influence of terrain morphology, prevailing winds, geological parent material and type of vegetation was estimated. Heavy traffic is confirmed as main source of lead contamination (average enrichment factor 17) in soils. The highest lead accumulation is localised in the top soil layer and within 10m from the roadside. Contamination with lead is more pronounced in soil samples from cuttings and slopes than in soils from plains and mounds. Soils derived from carbonate rocks contain higher lead concentration than those derived from other parent material.     

Changes in toxicity and genotoxicity of industrial sewage sludge samples containing nitro- and amino-aromatic compounds following treatment in bioreactors with different oxygen regimes

Goals, Scope and Background

From 2005, deposition of organic waste will be banned in Sweden. Likewise, in Germany and Austria, similar bans are being planned, and further countries will probably follow. Thus, there is a need to develop new methods and to refine established techniques for sludge management in the whole of the European Union. For this end, there is also an urgent need for appropriate ecotoxicological approaches to elucidate and assess the hazard potential of sewage sludge. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess the capacity of various established sludge treatment methods using different oxygen regimes to degrade recalcitrant nitro-substituted organic compounds and reduce their toxicity. Sewage sludge samples from a wastewater treatment plant in Sweden (Cambrex Karlskoga AB, industrial area Björkborn) receiving wastewater from industries manufacturing pharmaceutical substances, chemical intermediates and explosives were processed with different sludge treatment methods. Among other treatment methods, bioreactors (for anaerobic and aerobic sludge treatment) were used. In the present investigation, a battery ofin vitro bioassays was employed to compare the cytotoxic and genotoxic potentials of different fractions of sludge samples in order to elucidate whether the treatments were suitable to reduce the toxicity of the sludge.

Methods

In order to investigate the cytotoxicity of the extracts of treated and untreated sludge samples, the acute cytotoxicity test with the permanent cell line RTL-W1 was used. Genotoxicity was tested by means of the comet assay (single cell gel electro-phoresis) with RTL-W1cells, and mutagenicity was assessed with the Ames test using the Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98, TA98NR and TA100. Sludge toxicity was tested in different fractions of organic extracts produced by acetone and hexane extractions. The subsequent clean-up procedure (silica gel chro-matography and elution with hexane and dichloromethane) resulted in two fractions, a lipophilic hexane-fraction and a semi-lipophilic dichloromethane-fraction. For the genotoxicity and mutagenicity tests, these fractions were reunited at equal ratios.

Results and Discussion

The acute cytotoxicity test with RTL-Wl cells revealed a high cytotoxic potential for the semi-li-pophilic DM-fractions of all sludge samples with NR₅₀ values (= effective concentration for 50% cell death in the neutral red test) from 8.9 up to 20 mg sludge d.w./ml medium. A low cytotoxic potential for the hexane fractions of the untreated sludge samples (NR₅₀ 400 to < 400 mg sludge d.w./ml medium) was observed, whereas the hexane fractions of the treated sludge samples showed elevated cytotoxicity increasing further with treatment in the bioreactors. The comet assay indicated that three out of eight of the reunited fractions had a significant genotoxic potential. Whereas the genotoxic potential of one sample treated anaerobically was very high with an induction factor of 11.6, a similar sample (taken from the same anaerobic reactor four months later) and one untreated sample showed lower potentials. The samples treated in another anaerobic bioreactor as well as the samples treated aerobically showed no genotoxic potential. Results indicate that aerobic treatment was basically adequate for reducing the genotoxicity of the sludge, whereas anaerobic treatment was only partly useful for reduction of genotoxicity. The Ames test revealed a very high mutagenic potential for the reunited fractions of the untreated sludge samples with strain TA98 (maximum induction factors (IF_max up to 45) and a relatively high potential for one of the samples treated aerobically (S2, IF_max = 18 (TA98, S9-)), thus documenting the suitability of both anaerobic and aerobic treatments to reduce the mutagenicity of the samples, however, with the aerobic treatment being less effective. Conclusions. Overall, none of the microbiological treatments for wastewater sludge in bioreactors was found to be ideal for general toxicity reduction of the sludge samples. Whereas cytotoxicity of the sludge increased or levelled off in most cases following either treatment, genotoxicity both increased or decreased after anaerobic treatment, depending on the specific sample. However, mutagenicity could generally be reduced by anaerobic treatment and, to a lesser degree, by aerobic treatment. Recommendationsand Perspectives. The complex modification of the diverse damage potentials of sludge sample extracts by use of anin vitro biotest battery following treatment for toxicity reduction in bioreactors showed that considerations of different toxicological endpoints is essential for an adequate hazard assessment. Whereas in the case of cytotoxicity reduction, the reactors proved ineffective, mutagenicity could be reduced significantly at least in some cases in this case study.

     

Menkes X-linked disease: Prenatal diagnosis of hemizygous males and heterozygous females

Menkes X-linked disease, a copper disturbance syndrome, is detectable in cell cultures. Prenatal findings in two at-risk foetuses suggested that prenatal diagnosis was also feasible. In this study, we report substantial evidence that therapeutic abortion can be limited to hemizygous males. Forty-two at-risk pregnancies from 21 European families and 1 Canadian family were monitored with ⁶⁴Cu-uptake into cultured amniotic fluid cells. In 10 pregnancies with a male karyotype an affected foetus was predicted on the basis of the copper studies. The pregnancies were terminated and the diagnosis was in each case confirmed by a markedly increased placenta copper content. Fourteen male foetuses were predicted to be unaffected and none of them has developed signs of Menkes disease after birth. In 6 of these cases the diagnosis was checked in the newborn boy by placenta copper measurements, and they all had copper concentrations within normal limits. Eighteen pregnancies with a female karyotype were also studied. 9 females could be identified as carriers on the basis of the tissue culture studies or raised placenta copper values.     

Protandry and mate assessment in the wartbiter Decticus verrucivorus (Orthoptera : Tettigoniidae)

Summary Protandry, or early male emergence, is prevalent in the majority of insects. There are several explanations, both adaptive and incidental for this widespread phenomenon. Here I report the occurrence of protandry in the wartbiter, Decticus verrucivorus, and argue that the explanation for the evolution of protandry in this species is the result of selection acting on males in relation to sperm competition. It has previously been shown that sperm mixing occurs in this species, leading to a reduction in confidence of paternity with number of matings. Emerging early and thereby having a higher probability of mating with virgin females benefits males in two ways: both through a 100% assurance of paternity and because female egglaying rate decreases over time. A singly mated female can lay up to 30% of her lifetime egg production during her first refractory period, during which time the eggs are exclusively fertilized by the first male. Wartbiter males seem also to be able to assess female mating status and transfer larger spermatophores when mating with virgin females than when mating with already mated females. This holds true both for previously mated and virgin males. Thus, it seems that male wartbiters allocate their resources differentially depending on female quality.     

石灰石-石膏湿法烟气脱硫技术研究

本文以内蒙古某发电厂两个机组的脱硫项目为依托,深入分析研究了石灰石-石膏脱硫工艺,对其化学反应过程和机理进行了总结和探讨;对石灰石-石膏湿法烟气脱硫系统工艺流程及设备进行了剖析;并通过绘制曲线具体分析了主要参数对脱硫效率的影响,如烟气温度、原烟气进口SO2浓度、烟气中O2含量、循环浆液 pH 值、吸收塔烟气流速、液气比及Ca/S等对脱硫效率的影响.     

Perspectives on area-based conservation and its meaning for future biodiversity policy

During 2021, Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are expected to meet in Kunming, China, to agree on a new global biodiversity framework aimed at halting and reversing biodiversity loss, encouraging the sustainable use of biodiversity, and ensuring the equitable sharing of its benefits. As the post-2020 global biodiversity framework evolves, parties to the convention are being exposed to a range of perspectives on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, relating to the future framework as a whole or to aspects of it. Area-based conservation measures are one such aspect, and there are diverse perspectives on how new targets might be framed in relation to these measures. These perspectives represent different outlooks on the relationship between human and nonhuman life on Earth. However, in most cases there is a lack of clarity on how they would be implemented in practice, the implications this would have for biodiversity and human well-being, and how they would contribute to achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity of “living in harmony with nature.” We sought to clarify these issues by summarizing some of these perspectives in relation to the future of area-based biodiversity conservation. We identified these perspectives through a review of the literature and expert consultation workshops and compiled them into 4 main groups: Aichi+, ambitious area-based conservation perspectives, new conservation, and whole-earth conservation. We found that although the perspectives Aichi+ and whole earth are in some cases at odds with one another, they also have commonalities, and all perspectives have elements that can contribute to developing and implementing the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and achieving the longer term CBD 2050 Vision.