The Potentials and Limitations of Self-reliance and Self-sufficiency at the Local Level: views from southern Sweden

This paper describes a theoretical framework for thinking about self-reliance and self-sufficiency at the local level as one strategy for sustainable local development. Localisation can be regarded as a reaction to the process of globalisation, and can be interpreted in terms of governance and resource use. Self-reliance is related to control over decision making, whereas self-sufficiency refers to fulfilling an individual's or group's physical needs, and thus is linked to resource use. Territoriality can also be interpreted in terms of decision making and resource use. The findings of an interview study concerning self-reliance and self-sufficiency at the local level are presented and discussed in relation to the framework. The strengths of self-reliance and self-sufficiency as strategies for sustainable local development are that these provide opportunities for human-scale, territorial development processes, which through their local scale generate the possibilities of taking into account feedback from the natural environment, and building redundancy into the global system.     

支持西印度洋地区海洋和海岸带资源可持续管理的海洋研究

西印度洋(WIO)地区以其迷人的海岸带、丰富的海洋生物多样性以及富饶的海洋和海岸带资源而著称.但是地处WIO地区的许多国家像肯尼亚、莫桑比克、索马里、南非、坦桑尼亚、科摩罗、马达加斯加、毛里求斯、留尼旺、塞舌尔等却极度贫困,特别是近二三十年以来,该地区的环境退化现象以及自然资源和生物多样性的下降越来越明显.     

Grundwasserbelastung durch Rüstungsaltlast-Emissionen

Groundwater analyses in the area of the former munitions depository (World War II) ?Dethlinger Teich“ near Munster/Niedersachsen were evaluated. Results from 50 different chemical substances showed that arsenic compounds are the main contaminating chemicals. A new method has been developed to distinguish between morganically- and organically bound compounds. This differentiation is required for risk assessment and evaluation. Also, the relationship of chemical structure and physiological effects in organo arsenic compounds is described.     

Endocrine disrupters in the aquatic environment

Possible mechanisms to explain endocrine effects on reproduction and sex differentiation are presented for selected pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, industrial chemicals and plant sterols which are known to be present in the aquatic environment. Disruptions of the hormonal coordination can be induced by xenobiotics on various levels of the hierachically organised endocrine system of vertebrates. Phthalate plasticisers, for example, may disrupt the pituitary control of gonadal functions; prenatal/larval exposure to synthetic estrogen impairs sex differentiation and neuroendocrine sexual determination of the central nervous system; phenylurea herbicides block the androgen receptor; the biotransformation of weakly estrogenic plant sterol components of paper mill wastewater (e.g. βsitosterol) may lead to androgenic compounds. The effect of hypolipidemic drugs on lipid homeostasis (peroxysom proliferation) is transmitted via a receptor protein that seems to be closely related to the endocrine system both functionally as well as phylogenetically; possible interferences with the neuroendocrine control of sex differentiation are also discussed. In invertebrates, tributyltin is known to effect the biosynthesis of steroidal sexual hormones. PCBs are suspected to be competitive inhibitors of the steroid catabolism. In order to identify potential risks caused by chemicals to the reproductive capacities of aquatic animals and to the quality of drinking water, methods should be established to detect endocrine disrupters at the various levels of the endocrine system.     

Beauty ranking of mammalian species kept in the Prague Zoo: does beauty of animals increase the respondents’ willingness to protect them?

Aesthetic preferences for animals correspond with the species’ presence in the worldwide zoos and influence the conservation priorities. Here, we investigated the relationship between the willingness of respondents to protect mammals and some attributed characteristics such as their aesthetic beauty. Further, several methodological aspects of measuring mammalian beauty were assessed. Animal beauty was associated not only with the respondents’ willingness to protect the species but also with its attributed dangerousness and usefulness. We found that the most preferred animals were carnivores and ungulates, whilst smaller species of rodents and afrosoricids were unpopular. The main characteristics determining that an animal will be ranked as beautiful were complex fur pattern and body shape. We demonstrated that the position of mammalian species along the ‘beauty’ axis is surprisingly stable, no matter the form (illustrations vs photographs), context of stimulus presentation (several number of stimuli per family vs one randomly selected species per family), or the method of beauty evaluation (relative order vs Likert’s scale).     

Analysing the fate of nanopesticides in soil and the applicability of regulatory protocols using a polymer-based nanoformulation of atrazine

For the first time, regulatory protocols defined in the OECD guidelines were applied to determine the fate properties of a nanopesticide in two agricultural soils with contrasting characteristics. The nanoformulation studied had no effect on the degradation kinetics of atrazine indicating that (1) the release of atrazine from the polymer nanocarriers occurred rapidly relative to the degradation kinetics (half-lives 36–53 days) and/or that (2) atrazine associated with the nanocarriers was subject to biotic or abiotic degradation. Sorption coefficients, derived from a batch and a centrifugation technique at a realistic soil-to-solution ratio, were higher for the nanoformulated atrazine than for the pure active ingredient. Results indicate that the nanoformulation had an effect on the fate of atrazine. However, since the protocols applied were designed to assess solutes, conclusions about the transport of atrazine loaded onto the nanocarriers should be made extremely cautiously. The centrifugation method applied over time (here over 7 days) appears to be a useful tool to indirectly assess the durability of nanopesticides under realistic soil-to-solution ratios and estimate the period of time during which an influence on the fate of the active ingredient may be expected. More detailed investigations into the bioavailability and durability of nanopesticides are necessary and will require the development of novel methods suitable to address both the “nano” and “organic” characteristics of polymer-based nanopesticides.     

Economic Project Risk Assessment in Remediation Projects Prior to Construction: Methodology Development and Case Study Application

Probabilistic economic analysis, including uncertainty of probabilities and consequences of project risks, is not widely used in remediation projects. This article presents a project risk assessment (PRA) method to identify, quantify, and analyze risks in remediation projects. The suggested method is probabilistic and includes uncertainty analysis of input variables based on expert judgment. It was originally developed as a part of a sustainability assessment tool, but is viable as a stand‐alone tool for remediation projects. The method is applied to a case study: a former paint factory that is being redeveloped into a residential area. The PRA method is used for analyzing and comparing the project risks associated with four remediation options, all including excavation but with different degrees of onsite treatment. The result of the case study application shows which alternative has the lowest mean risk cost, the highest probability to have the lowest risk cost, and how the risk costs are distributed, but also, importantly, helps the user to prioritize between risk‐reduction measures. ©2015 Wiley Periodicals     

Pure non-dioxin-like PCB congeners suppress induction of AhR-dependent endpoints in rat liver cells

The relative potencies of non-ortho-substituted coplanar polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners to activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and to cause the AhR-dependent toxic events are essential for their risk assessment. Since some studies suggested that abundant non-dioxin-like PCB congeners (NDL-PCBs) may alter the AhR activation by PCB mixtures and possibly cause non-additive effects, we evaluated potential suppressive effects of NDL-PCBs on AhR activation, using a series of 24 highly purified NDL-PCBs. We investigated their impact on the model AhR agonist-induced luciferase reporter gene expression in rat hepatoma cells and on induction of CYP1A1/1B1 mRNAs and deregulation of AhR-dependent cell proliferation in rat liver epithelial cells. PCBs 128, 138, and 170 significantly suppressed AhR activation (with IC₅₀ values from 1.4 to 5.6 μM), followed by PCBs 28, 47, 52, and 180; additionally, PCBs 122, 153, and 168 showed low but still significant potency to reduce luciferase activity. Detection of CYP1A1 mRNA levels in liver epithelial cells largely confirmed these results for the most abundant NDL-PCBs, whereas the other AhR-dependent events (CYP1B1 mRNA expression, induction of cell proliferation in confluent cells) were less sensitive to NDL-PCBs, thus indicating a more complex regulation of these endpoints. The present data suggest that some NDL-PCBs could modulate overall dioxin-like effects in complex mixtures.     

Remediation of heavy metal polluted sediment by suspension and solid-bed leaching: estimate of metal removal efficiency

Remediation of heavy metal polluted sediment by extracting the metals with sulfuric acid can be performed as follows: abiotic suspension leaching, microbial suspension leaching, abiotic solid-bed leaching, and microbial solid-bed leaching. Abiotic leaching means that the acid is directly added, while microbial leaching means that the acid is generated from sulfur by microbes (bioleaching). These four principles were compared to each other with special emphasis on the effectiveness of metal solubilization and metal removal by subsequent washing. Abiotic suspension leaching was fastest, but suspending the solids exhibits some disadvantages (low solid content, costly reactors, permanent input of energy, high water consumption, special equipment required for solid separation, large amounts of waste water, sediment properties hinder reuse), which prevent suspension leaching in practice. Abiotic solid-bed leaching implies the supply of acid by percolating water which proceeds slowly due to a limited bed permeability. Microbial solid-bed leaching means the generation of acid within the bed and has been proven to be the only principle applicable to practice. Metal removal from leached sediment requires washing with water. Washing of solid beds was much more effective than washing of suspended sediment. The kinetics of metal removal from solid beds 0.3, 0.6 or 1.2m in height were similar; when using a percolation flow of 20lm(-2)h(-1), the removal of 98% of the mobile metals lasted 57-61h and required 8.5, 4.2 or 2.3lkg(-1) water. This means, the higher the solid bed, the lower the sediment-mass-specific demand for time and water.