Transboundary hazardous waste management. Part I: Waste management policy of importing countries.

Mixed metal-containing waste, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) containing capacitors, printed circuit boards, steel mill dust and metal sludge were among the most common wastes exported from Taiwan. Before the implementation of the self-monitoring model programme of the Basel Convention (secretariat of the Basel Convention 2001) in the Asia region, Taiwan conducted a comprehensive 4-year follow-up project involving government authorities and the waste disposal facilities of the importing countries. A total of five countries and nine plants were visited in 2001-2002. The following outcomes can be drawn from these investigations. The Chinese government adopts the strategies of 'on-site processing' and 'relative centralization' on the waste management by tightening permitting and increasing site inspection. A three-level reviewing system is adopted for the import application. The United States have not signed the Basel Convention yet; the procedures of hazardous waste import rely on bilateral agreements. Importers are not required to provide official notification from the waste exporting countries. The operation, administration, monitoring and licensing of waste treatment plants are governed by the state environmental bureau. Finland, France and Belgium are members of the European Union. The procedures and policies of waste import are similar. All of the documents associated with transboundary movement require the approval of each government involved. Practically, the notification forms and tracking forms effectively manage the waste movement.     

Fetus in fetu—from prenatal ultrasound and MRI diagnosis to postnatal confirmation

We report a case of fetus in fetu presented as a complex intra-abdominal heterogeneous cystic lesion during ultrasound examination of the fetus at 25 weeks of gestation. Progressive growth of this mass was noted in the prenatal period. Fetal magnetic resonance imaging provided additional information to aid in the prenatal diagnosis. This allows proper counselling for the parents and helps to plan the postnatal management. Surgical excision was carried out in the early neonatal period and the diagnosis of fetus in fetu was confirmed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

2007—2016年嘉峪关市城市绿地生态评价及障碍因子分析

对城市绿地进行科学评价有助于人们正确认识和改造城市绿地建设,为城市绿地规划和管理提供参考。以2007—2016年嘉峪关市城市绿地为研究对象,从数量、结构、功能三个方面构建评价指标体系,通过障碍度模型,识别影响城市绿地生态水平的障碍因子。结果表明：（1）10 a来嘉峪关市城市绿地生态水平整体呈波动上升趋势,级别由较低等级提高到高等级,但目前城市绿地生态水平属于低层次、不稳定的高等级阶段,城市绿地建设工作压力还很大。（2）从准则层看,嘉峪关市城市绿地生态水平的主要威胁变化较为明显,数量指标和结构指标是主要障碍因子;从指标层看,各年份主要障碍因子不尽相同,最大障碍因子历经了从人均公园绿地面积、树种丰富度到净化空气能力的演变。     

Adaptive management of marine mega-fauna in a changing climate

Management of marine mega-fauna in a changing climate is constrained by a series of uncertainties, often related to climate change projections, ecological responses, and the effectiveness of strategies in alleviating climate change impacts. Uncertainties can be reduced over time through adaptive management. Adaptive management is a framework for resource conservation that promotes iterative learning-based decision making. To successfully implement the adaptive management cycle, different steps (planning, designing, learning and adjusting) need to be systematically implemented to inform earlier steps in an iterative way. Despite the critical role that adaptive management is likely to play in addressing the impacts of climate change on marine mega-fauna few managers have successfully implemented an adaptive management approach. We discuss the approaches necessary to implement each step of an adaptive management cycle to manage marine mega-fauna in a changing climate, highlighting the steps that require further attention to fully implement the process. Examples of sharks and rays (Selachimorpha and Batoidea) on the Great Barrier Reef and little penguins, Eudyptula minor, in south-eastern Australia are used as case studies. We found that successful implementation of the full adaptive management cycle to marine mega-fauna needs managers and researchers to: (1) obtain a better understanding of the capacity of species to adapt to climate change to inform the planning step; (2) identify strategies to directly address impacts in the marine environment to inform the designing step; and (3) develop systematic evaluation and monitoring programs to inform the learning step. Further, legislation needs to flexible to allow for management to respond.     

Warfare in Biodiversity Hotspots

Abstract:  Conservation efforts are only as sustainable as the social and political context within which they take place. The weakening or collapse of sociopolitical frameworks during wartime can lead to habitat destruction and the erosion of conservation policies, but in some cases, may also confer ecological benefits through altered settlement patterns and reduced resource exploitation. Over 90% of the major armed conflicts between 1950 and 2000 occurred within countries containing biodiversity hotspots, and more than 80% took place directly within hotspot areas. Less than one-third of the 34 recognized hotspots escaped significant conflict during this period, and most suffered repeated episodes of violence. This pattern was remarkably consistent over these 5 decades. Evidence from the war-torn Eastern Afromontane hotspot suggests that biodiversity conservation is improved when international nongovernmental organizations support local protected area staff and remain engaged throughout the conflict. With biodiversity hotspots concentrated in politically volatile regions, the conservation community must maintain continuous involvement during periods of war, and biodiversity conservation should be incorporated into military, reconstruction, and humanitarian programs in the world's conflict zones.     

Applying TRIZ principles in crowd management

Overcrowding that happens in places like concerts, stadiums or pilgrimage locations might sometimes cause injury or loss of life. Maintaining the safety of crowd in these places is therefore very important. In addition, increasing the performance of the buildings and structures has always been an important concern. Most of the previous work focused on using new devices and methods for monitoring and management of the crowd but they rarely focus on a comprehensive and structured approach with the purpose of increasing efficiency and safety. In this paper, we explore a Russian “Theory of Inventive Problem Solving”, TRIZ, to see whether its principles can help us to solve or improve overcrowding issues. More specifically we find the contradictions that arise in the context of crowd management and we observe which of the categorical solutions suggested by TRIZ might possibly be useful for our problem. Increasing the crowd capacity in a relatively small area, which leads to overcrowding, is one of the common contradictions in crowd management. TRIZ has been suggested as a good method for solving problems which involve contradiction and thus, chosen for this purpose.     

猪粪堆肥中一株溶磷菌的筛选鉴定及溶磷能力初步测定

从猪粪堆肥中分离纯化得到一株具有较强溶磷能力的菌株PSM-1,进行了形态学和分子生物学鉴定,研究了其溶磷能力和遗传稳定性.结果表明:通过菌落形态和ITS基因序列分析鉴定,菌株PSM-1为产黄青霉(Penicillium chrysogenum);在3种不同无机磷源液体培养基中其溶磷量依次为Ca3(PO4)2(138.36 mg·L-1)Fe PO4(117.38 mg·L-1)Al PO4(113.76 mg·L-1),且PSM-1的溶磷量均与培养液p H值呈现出显著负相关性;以葡萄糖为碳源、硝酸铵为氮源时,菌株PSM-1的溶磷量最高可达195.67 mg·L-1,比初始有效磷高141.42%;该菌株对碳源和氮源的利用效率分别依次为:葡糖糖蔗糖麦芽糖淀粉,硝酸铵硝酸钾硫酸铵草酸铵;经过20次传代培养后PSM-1的溶磷量保持在(124.54±3.50)mg·L-1,说明其溶磷遗传稳定性良好.研究表明:PSM-1菌株具有良好的溶解无机磷的能力,在土壤微生态改良方面具有重要的应用潜力.     

Seasonality of selected surface water constituents in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida

Seasonality is often the major exogenous effect that must be compensated for or removed to discern trends in water quality. Our objective was to provide a methodological example of trend analysis using water quality data with seasonality. Selected water quality constituents from 1979 to 2004 at three monitoring stations in southern Florida were evaluated for seasonality. The seasonal patterns of flow-weighted and log-transformed concentrations were identified by applying side-by-side boxplots and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test (p < 0.05). Seasonal and annual trends were determined by trend analysis (Seasonal Kendall or Tobit procedure) using the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Estimate TREND (ESTREND) program. Major water quality indicators (specific conductivity, turbidity, color, and chloride), except for turbidity at Station C24S49, exhibited significant seasonal patterns. Almost all nutrient species (NO(2)-N, NH(4)-N, total Kjeldahl N, PO(4)-P, and total P) had an identical seasonal pattern of concentrations significantly greater in the wet than in the dry season. Some water quality constituents were observed to exhibit significant annual or seasonal trends. In some cases, the overall annual trend was insignificant while opposing trends were present in different seasons. By evaluating seasonal trends separately from all data, constituents can be assessed providing a more accurate interpretation of water quality trends.