Democracy at its Best? The Consensus Conference in a Cross-national Perspective

Over recent decades, public participation in technology assessment has spread internationally as an attempt to overcome or prevent societal conflicts over controversial technologies. One outcome of this new surge in public consultation initiatives has been the increased use of participatory consensus conferences in a number of countries. Existing evaluations of consensus conferences tend to focus on the modes of organization, as well as the outcomes, both procedural and substantial, of the conferences they examine. Such evaluations seem to rest on the assumption that this type of procedure has universally agreed goals and meanings, and that therefore consensus conferences can readily be interpreted and applied across national boundaries. This article challenges this approach to consensus conferences. The core of the article is a study of national differences in ideas about what constitutes legitimate goals for participatory arrangements. The study looks at three consensus conferences on GMOs, which took place in France, Norway, and Denmark. Drawing on this study, the article discusses the ways in which interpretations of the concept of participation; the value attributed to lay knowledge vs. technical expertise; as well as ideas about the role of the layperson, are all questions that prompt entirely different answers from country to country. Further, the article analyses these national differences within a theoretical framework of notions of democratic legitimacy.     

红树林土壤解磷菌的分离鉴定及解磷特性

从罗源湾红树林根际土壤中分离解磷菌,筛选出洋葱伯克霍尔德菌（Burkholderia cepacia, NR 113645.1）和短小芽孢杆菌（Bacillus pumilus, NR 043242.1）,研究它们的解磷特性和动态解磷过程. HPLC结果表明, B. cepacia菌液上清中含葡萄糖酸、丙酮酸、乳酸、乙酸、丁二酸, 这些有机酸的产生导致磷酸盐溶解. B.pumilus菌液上清中仅检测到少量的葡萄糖酸, 因此该菌溶磷效果不佳. 在细菌动态溶磷过程中发现, 经B. cepacia菌处理的磷酸钙, 其X射线衍射（XRD）特征峰强度随时间的增长降低, 显微镜图像显示磷酸钙颗粒随时间增长变小, 甚至消失. 而经B.pumilus菌处理的结果表明, 在试验期间内磷酸钙峰强度和颗粒大小没有明显变化. 细菌产生有机酸是溶解磷酸盐的重要前提, 这是解决板结土壤中难溶性磷源转化为生物可利用磷源问题的关键.     

湖北网湖沉积物重金属分布特征、源解析及风险评价

为揭示湖北网湖沉积物重金属污染特征,采用空间插值法、主成分分析法和地累积指数对其污染特征、来源识别及生态风险状况进行分析。结果表明：5种重金属的平均浓度从高到低依次为Zn>Cr>Cu>Pb>Cd,且浓度均超过湖北省土壤背景值;Pearson相关性分析表明,Zn与Cd、Pb浓度呈正相关（P<0.05),Cu与Zn、Cr浓度呈负相关（P<0.05)。主成分分析发现,主成分1由Pb、Cd、Zn构成,主要来源于河流运输和农业活动影响;主成分2由Cr和Cu构成,主要来源于矿物风化等自然背景和工业活动及水产养殖等人类活动污染影响。地累积指数结果显示,网湖沉积物中重金属处于低风险状态,但Cd和Cu达到中度污染,为主要污染物,应予以关注。

     

上海崇明县植被覆盖度动态变化遥感监测研究

植被覆盖度是用于描述和评价生态系统的重要参数。基于1989、2001、2006年的TM/ETM+遥感数据,以上海市崇明县为研究区域,利用改进的像元二分模型,估算出不同时期内崇明县的植被覆盖度,并对其变化进行了定量分析。结果表明:1989-2001年,植被覆盖度负向变化地表约10.17%,正向变化约20.58%,乡镇和湿地区域正向变化的面积大于负向变化,农场区域则相反;2001-2006年,负向变化约29.1%,正向变化约12%,农场和湿地区域正向变化的面积大于负向变化,乡镇区域则相反,并且随着城市化进程的深入,各土地用地类型的植被覆盖度变化在一定程度上都呈现出生态退化的趋势。     

水稻耐氨固氮菌施用效应研究

早、晚两季的田间试验结果表明,在电脑推荐施N水平上,耐氨固氮菌的增产效果不显著;在低N情况下(每公顷减纯N37.5kg),耐氨固氮菌的增产效果达显著水平,早、晚稻分别增产8.41％和7.21％。15N示踪盆栽试验结果表明,耐氨固氮菌对根系生长有明显的促进作用,在秧苗期明显增加秧苗对肥料15N的吸收．禾苗分蘖盛期则增强了禾苗根系的吸氮能力。     

电吸附水处理技术(EST)对污水悬浮物去除效果研究

为了研究电吸附水处理技术(EST)对污水悬浮物的去除效果,本文采用电吸附水处理技术对生活污水中悬浮物进行处理分析,结果表明电吸附水处理系统对悬浮物的去除效果较好,去除率达到74.07%,而电吸附模块本身对悬浮物去除率仅为14.29%,氯离子、进水中悬浮物的浓度及进水中的硬度值均对悬浮物去除效率没有影响。因此,电吸附水处理技术可作为污水处理的一种新型有效方法。     

高校图书馆消防安全疏散数值分析

以国内某高校图书馆为实例,利用FDS和Pathfinder对该图书馆进行火灾及人员疏散全尺寸模拟。研究图书馆发生火灾时烟气扩散、温度分布及能见度对人员逃生的影响。主要方法为通过火灾模拟软件FDS模拟分析发生火灾时的可用安全疏散时间(ASET),并使用疏散模拟软件PathFinder计算所需安全疏散时间(RSET),进而判断图书馆目前管理状况是否满足火灾时的人员安全疏散需要。结论表明:该图书馆目前管理状况不能满足火灾条件下人员逃生的需要,而影响人员安全疏散的主要因素为烟气的扩散。在研究结果的基础上提出改进建议,为图书馆日后的管理及灭火救援提供理论依据。     

考虑非线性吸附时溶质在有限厚度粘土中的一维扩散解

在采用非线性分段式吸附等温模式的基础上,建立了溶质在粘土中的一维扩散模型,在考虑有限厚度边界及土中溶质背景浓度的条件下得到了相应的解.模型引入了移动边界以说明当溶质在粘土孔隙水中的浓度达到某一较高值后,阻滞因子将发生显著变化.算例分析表明,该模型和考虑经典非线性吸附等温线得到的结果相差不大,这进一步说明了该模型的合理性.考虑非线性吸附效应对溶质迁移有重要影响.在较高溶质浓度下采用线性吸附等温模式会得到偏不安全的结果.该解相对较简单,并可用于验证各种数值模型、拟合试验数据等.     

Metabolomic analysis of the selection response of Drosophila melanogaster to environmental stress: are there links to gene expression and phenotypic traits?

We investigated the global metabolite response to artificial selection for tolerance to stressful conditions such as cold, heat, starvation, and desiccation, and for longevity in Drosophila melanogaster. Our findings were compared to data from other levels of biological organization, including gene expression, physiological traits, and organismal stress tolerance phenotype. Overall, we found that selection for environmental stress tolerance changes the metabolomic ¹H NMR fingerprint largely in a similar manner independent of the trait selected for, indicating that experimental evolution led to a general stress selection response at the metabolomic level. Integrative analyses across data sets showed little similarity when general correlations between selection effects at the level of the metabolome and gene expression were compared. This is likely due to the fact that the changes caused by these selection regimes were rather mild and/or that the dominating determinants for gene expression and metabolite levels were different. However, expression of a number of genes was correlated with the metabolite data. Many of the identified genes were general stress response genes that are down-regulated in response to selection for some of the stresses in this study. Overall, the results illustrate that selection markedly alters the metabolite profile and that the coupling between different levels of biological organization indeed is present though not very strong for stress selection at this level. The results highlight the extreme complexity of environmental stress adaptation and the difficulty of extrapolating and interpreting responses across levels of biological organization.