An analysis of the implementation of an environmental management system in a local public administration

The Environmental Management System (EMS) is commonly implemented in private firms. However, on the basis of a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis, our work analyzes the consequences of implementing an EMS within the context of local public administrations, particularly regarding the City Council of Ohanes in Almería (Spain). This is the first European corporation to implement an EMS according to the ISO 14001 Standard, certified by the Spanish Association of Normalization and Certification. Its analysis would be equivalent to the Shumpeterian "market innovator study", so that public administration "followers" can take advantage of the derived benefits and of minimizing the negative effects of such an experience. On the other hand, we show that the economic and environmental advantages derived from the EMS go beyond the activities that the City Council is in charge of. They have spillover effects that extend them to all economic activities in the municipality and these effects are expected to be increased in the medium and long-term perspective. In this paper, we compare the costs and benefits that the municipality obtains in two cases: the City Council implements the EMS or it does not implement it. The main objective of this article is to show the economic and environmental advantages obtained by a municipality when it is only the City Council who is implementing an EMS. It is logical to suppose that this case study can stimulate other municipalities to use this instrument, even if the economic and environmental characteristics of the municipality are different.     

Curcumin and Its Analogs as a Therapeutic Strategy in Infections Caused by RNA Genome Viruses

Food and Environmental Virology - The use of natural resources for the prevention and treatment of diseases considered fatal to humanity has evolved. Several medicinal plants have nutritional and...     

Expertise,safety, reliability,and decision making: practical industrial experience

This paper presents our practical experience of expert opinion deduced from concrete field applications, concerning mainly safety and reliability modeling. First, expertise is defined and the approach used for eliciting expertise is shortly described. Quality and value of information from experts are important challenges for decision making from risk analysis. Expertise is very useful for supplying data when not enough field observations are available for estimating parameter uncertainties and quantifying risk analysis models, which are inputs to a decision-making process. Applications presented herein concern mainly the role of expert judgment in reliability.     

Uncertainty Models for Estimates of Physical Characteristics of River Segments Over Large Areas

Spatially comprehensive estimates of the physical characteristics of river segments over large areas are required in many large‐scale analyses of river systems and for the management of multiple basins. Remote sensing and modeling are often used to estimate river characteristics over large areas, but the uncertainties associated with these estimates and their dependence on the physical characteristics of the segments and their catchments are seldom quantified. Using test data with varying degrees of independence, we derived analytical models of the uncertainty associated with estimates of upstream catchment area (CA), segment slope, and mean annual discharge for all river segments of a digital representation of the hydrographic network of France. Although there were strong relationships between our test data and estimates at the scale of France, there were also large relative local uncertainties, which varied with the physical characteristics of the segments and their catchments. Discharge and CA were relatively uncertain where discharge was low and catchments were small. Discharge uncertainty also increased in catchments with large rainfall events and low minimum temperature. The uncertainty of segment slope was strongly related to segment length. Our uncertainty models were consistent across large regions of France, suggesting some degree of generality. Their analytical formulation should facilitate their use in large‐scale ecological studies and simulation models.     

The Achievement of a Decentralized Water Management Through Stakeholder Participation: An Example from the Drôme River Catchment Area in France (1981–2008)

Different water Acts (e.g., the European Water Framework Directive) and stakeholders involved in aquatic affairs have promoted integrated river basin management over recent decades. However, few studies have provided feedback on these policies. The aim of the current article is to fill this gap by exploring how local newspapers reflect the implementation of a broad public participation within a catchment of France known for its innovation with regard to this domain. The media coverage of a water management strategy in the Drôme watershed from 1981 to 2008 was investigated using a content analysis and a geographic information system. We sought to determine what public participation and decentralized decision-making can be in practice. The results showed that this policy was integrated because of its social perspective, the high number of involved stakeholders, the willingness to handle water issues, and the local scale suitable for participation. We emphasized the prominence of the watershed scale guaranteed by the local water authority. This area was also characterized by compromise, arrangements, and power dynamics on a fine scale. We examined the most politically engaged writings regarding water management, which topics of each group emphasized, and how the groups agreed and disagreed on issues based on their values and context. The temporal pattern of participation implementation was progressive but worked by fits and starts.     

Expedient Metrics to Describe Plant Community Change Across Gradients of Anthropogenic Influence

Human influence associated with land use may cause considerable biodiversity losses, namely in oceanic islands such as the Azores. Our goal was to identify plant indicator species across two gradients of increasing anthropogenic influence and management (arborescent and herbaceous communities) and determine similarity between plant communities of uncategorized vegetation plots to those in reference gradients using metrics derived from R programming. We intend to test and provide an expedient way to determine the conservation value of a given uncategorized vegetation plot based on the number of native, endemic, introduced, and invasive indicator species present. Using the metric IndVal, plant taxa with a significant indicator value for each community type in the two anthropogenic gradients were determined. A new metric, ComVal, was developed to assess the similarity of an uncategorized vegetation plot toward a reference community type, based on (i) the percentage of pre-defined indicator species from reference communities present in the vegetation plots, and (ii) the percentage of indicator species, specific to a given reference community type, present in the vegetation plot. Using a data resampling approach, the communities were randomly used as training or validation sets to classify vegetation plots based on ComVal. The percentage match with reference community types ranged from 77 to 100 % and from 79 to 100 %, for herbaceous and arborescent vegetation plots, respectively. Both IndVal and ComVal are part of a suite of useful tools characterizing plant communities and plant community change along gradients of anthropogenic influence without a priori knowledge of their biology and ecology.     

How wave exposure, group size and habitat complexity influence foraging and population densities in fishes of the genus Halichoeres (Perciformes: Labridae) on tropical rocky shores

Wave exposure and habitat complexity have been used to explain variations in the distribution patterns and behavior of many reef fishes. This study analyzed the influence of both factors on density and foraging activity, and the influence of group size on foraging in three species of the genus Halichoeres (Labridae) on tropical rocky shores. It was shown that initial phases (IP) and terminal phases (TP) Halichoeres, were influenced by wave exposure, although foraging in Halichoeres brasiliensis TP was not influenced by wave exposure. The IP in all three species were positively associated with rugosity and algal cover while the TP was positively associated with depth. Habitat complexity also influences foraging in these species. Group size influenced foraging activity, except in H. brasiliensis TP. We also found variations in microhabitat patches used for foraging between species and differences in the stomach contents between species and phases, showing that functional roles change in response to ontogenetic shifts.     

Environmental Surveillance of Polioviruses in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil, in Support to the Activities of Global Polio Eradication Initiative

Wild polioviruses still remain endemic in three countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria) and re-emergency of wild polio has been reported in previously polio-free countries. Environmental surveillance has been used as a supplementary tool in monitoring the circulation of wild poliovirus (PVs) and/or vaccine-derived PVs even in the absence of acute flaccid paralysis cases. This study aimed to monitor the presence of polioviruses in wastewater samples collected at one wastewater treatment plant located in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From December 2011 to June 2012 and from September to December 2012, 31 samples were collected and processed. RD and L20B cell cultures were able to isolate PVs and non-polio enteroviruses in 27/31 samples. Polioviruses were isolated in eight samples (type 1 Sabin = 1, type 2 Sabin = 5, and type 3 Sabin = 2). Vaccine-derived polioviruses were not detected nor evidence of recombination with other PVs or non-polio enterovirus serotypes were observed among the isolates. The Sabin-related serotypes 2 and 3 presented nucleotide substitutions in positions associated with the neurovirulent phenotype at the 5′-UTR. Changes in important Amino acid residues at VP1 were also observed in the serotypes 2 and 3. Environmental surveillance has been used successfully in monitoring the circulation of PVs and non-polio enteroviruses and it is of crucial importance in the final stages of the WHO global polio eradication initiative. Our results show the continuous circulation of Sabin-like PVs and non-polio enteroviruses in the analyzed area during the study period.     

非洲第一种有社会标志和有机标志的咖啡

1999年7月，喀麦隆的一个小农合作社Macefcoop成功地将其头两集装箱有机咖啡装运到欧洲.这是从非洲进入“公平交易”市场的第一种有机咖啡. 　　在坦桑尼亚，卡格拉(Kagera)区两个村庄的农民(卡格拉合作联盟的成员)最后决定转向有认证的有机生产. 　　也在坦桑尼亚的乞力马扎罗土著合作联盟正在从事一个试验项目工作，以在他们的一个农场上引种有机咖啡，旨在向农民们示范何谓有机以及怎样才能实施有机生产. 　　这三个合作社全都是Max Havelaar基金会的注册伙伴.......