Understanding and minimizing environmental impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) sets to create connections and build infrastructure across Eurasia, Asia, and parts of the African continent in its initial phase and is the largest infrastructure project of all time. Any infrastructure project on this scale will necessarily pass through ecofragile regions and key biodiversity areas (KBAs). This creates an imperative to identify possible areas of impact and probable effects on conservation values to facilitate adaptive planning and to mitigate, minimize, or avoid impacts. Using the highest resolution route maps of the BRI available, I overlaid the proposed road and rail routes on KBAs, protected areas, and predicted biodiversity hotspots for over 4138 animal and 7371 plant species. I also assessed the relationship between the proposed route with the distribution of mines across BRI countries and the proportion of deforestation and forest near routes. Infrastructure, especially mining, was clustered near the proposed route; thus, construction and development along the route may increase the size and number of mines. Up to 15% of KBAs were within 1 km of proposed railways. Thus, planned and probable development along the routes may pose a significant risk to biodiversity, especially because the majority of KBAs are unprotected. Many biodiversity hotspots for different taxa were near the route. These hotspots varied between taxa, making systematic management and environmental impact assessments an effective strategy for at least some taxa. A combination of planning and mitigation strategies will likely be necessary to protect the most important areas for biodiversity proximal to development, especially in currently unprotected KBAs and other regions that need protection. A fuller assessment of trade-offs between conservation and other values will be necessary to make good decisions for each project and site being developed, including potentially modifying parts of the route to minimize impacts. Modification or foregoing of infrastructure may be needed if stakeholders consider the conservation costs too high.     

Total mercury in marine species from the French coast of the Eastern English Channel

Mercury (Hg) in fish can present a potential risk to wildlife and human consumers. Mercury levels were determined in 12 fish species and 2 invertebrate species from the French coast of the Eastern English Channel collected in June and November 2012. Total mercury concentrations in the muscle tissues ranged between 0.04 and 1.63 µg g^-1 (d.w.). Dab and sandeel displayed a significant positive correlation between Hg concentrations and fish length. Seasonal differences in Hg concentrations were observed for dab and shrimp. The lesser weever showed significantly higher concentrations of Hg (0.97 ± 0.34 µg g^-1 d. w.) than all other species. Gobies and sprat, which had the smallest size, showed significantly lower concentrations than herring, whiting, pout and sardine. Among the considered species, flatfish such as dab, flounder, plaice and sole displayed intermediate levels of Hg. In the present study, the fish age expressed as specimen length seems to be one of the major factors governing Hg contents in muscle tissues. Finally, mercury concentrations in commercial fish from the Eastern English Channel were below the levels fixed by the European Union for total mercury in edible parts of fish products.     

A comparison of web-based and telephone surveys for assessing traffic safety concerns, beliefs, and behaviors

Introduction

The purpose of this investigation was to compare the results of a web-based and a telephone interview survey measuring driver concerns about a variety of traffic safety issues, their beliefs, and specific driving behaviors.

Method

State-wide, annual random digit-dial telephone surveys and web-based surveys were conducted in Maryland. A total of 1,700 drivers were surveyed by telephone and 6,806 took a web survey.

Results

Telephone respondents were more likely to be female and older. Web respondents were more likely to be white and not Latino/Hispanic. After controlling for demographic differences, telephone survey respondents were more likely to be concerned about traffic safety. They were more likely to believe that sobriety checkpoints reduce drunk driving (OR = 2.18, 95% CI 1.94, 2.45), they would be ticketed for not wearing a seat belt (OR = 1.26, 95% CI 1.12, 1.43), and they would be stopped by the police if they drove after drinking too much (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.03, 1.32). They were less likely to report a variety of risky behaviors including using a cell phone while driving (OR = .54, 95% CI .48, .61) and driving 10+ mph over the speed limit (OR = .81, 95% CI .72, .91), but were more likely to report having been ticketed for a moving violation in the last month (OR = 2.22, 95% CI 1.70, 2.90). Suggestions are offered for overcoming potential sources of sampling bias.

Impact on Industry

Web-based surveys produce substantially different results than random-digit-dial telephone surveys, when used for public assessments of traffic safety concerns and behaviors.     

Effects of exposure to ED contaminants (TPT-Cl and Fenarimol) on crinoid echinoderms: comparative analysis of regenerative development and correlated steroid levels

Regenerative phenomena reproduce developmental processes in adult organisms and are regulated by neuro-endocrine mechanisms. They can therefore provide sensitive tests for monitoring the effects of exposure to endocrine disrupter contaminants (EDs) which can be bioaccumulated by the organisms causing dysfunctions in steroid hormone metabolism and activities and affecting reproduction and development. Echinoderms are prime candidates for this new ecotoxicological approach, since (1) they offer unique models to study physiological regenerative processes and (2) in echinoderms vertebrate-type steroids can be synthesized and used as terminal hormones along the neuro-endocrine cascades regulating reproductive, growth and developmental processes. We are currently exploring the effects on the regenerative potential of echinoderms of different classes of compounds that are well known to have ED activity. The present paper focuses on the possible effects of well-known compounds with suspected androgenic activity such as TPT-Cl (Triphenyltin-chloride) and Fenarimol [(±)-2,4-dichloro-α-(pyrimidin-5-yl) benzhydryl alcohol]. The selected test-species is the crinoid Antedon mediterranea, a tractable and sensitive benthic filter-feeding species which represents a valuable experimental model for investigation on the regenerative process from the macroscopic to the molecular level. The present investigation employs an integrated approach which combines exposure experiments and biological analysis utilizing microscopy, immunocytochemistry and biochemistry. The experiments were carried out on experimentally induced arm regenerations in semistatic controlled conditions with exposure concentrations comparable to those of moderately polluted coastal zones. The bulk of results obtained so far provide indications of significant sublethal effects from exposure to TPT-Cl and Fenarimol and mechanisms of toxicity related to developmental physiology, which are associated with variations in steroid levels in the animal tissues. The results indicate that these two substances (1) affect growth and development by interfering with the same basic cellular mechanisms of regeneration, such as cell proliferation, migration and differentiation/dedifferentiation, which are possibly controlled by steroid hormones; and (2) can induce a number of significant modifications in the timing, modalities and pattern of arm regeneration, which may involve the activation of cell mechanisms related to steroid synthesis/metabolism. Physical and Chemical Impacts on Marine Organisms, a Bilateral Seminar Italy-Japan held in November 2004     

Adapting to urban challenges in the Amazon: flood risk and infrastructure deficiencies in Belém,Brazil

Regional Environmental Change - Sustainable urban infrastructure transition is perhaps the biggest challenge confronting cities in the global south in a time of climate change. Fast-growing cities...     

Effects of an absenteeism feedback intervention on employee absence behavior†

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of an Absenteeism Feedback Intervention (AFI) on employee absenteeism. Three hundred and seventy‐one employees working in 14 experimental and 13 control groups in a medium sized hospital participated in the study. Employees working in the experimental groups received absenteeism feedback at three time periods that provided them with information about their own number of absent days and episodes (sequential days counted as a single absence episode) as well as the average of their work and occupational group. Comparisons of absent days and episodes between the AFI and control groups indicate some support for the effectiveness of the intervention. In particular, there was a reduction in absent days and episodes for employees with higher than average absenteeism during the previous year but who were not extreme offenders. The research and practical implications of the AFI for reducing employee absenteeism are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

从碎片化到系统化：农村精准扶贫中的社会工作资源整合

在脱贫攻坚的大背景下,社会工作专业力量积极参与农村精准扶贫,资源整合是其中的一个重要议题。当前农村贫困对象的资源呈现总体匮乏、资源无联动、资源流失的状态。在农村精准扶贫中,社会工作资源整合需要使贫困对象碎片化的资源状态能够系统化。开展社会工作资源整合,首先需要评估贫困对象的资源需求,然后盘点贫困对象现有资源,并优化资源输送机制,再次需要对整合的资源进行管理与评估。在农村精准扶贫中,也需要反思社会工作资源整合的本土化问题,以及思考后扶贫时代如何针对农村相对贫困群体开展社会工作资源整合服务。