An Experiment in Participative Environmental Decision Making

Summary The paper presents a method of participatory decision-making involving the authorities at local level, experts and the public. It studies how to solve the problems caused by the heterogeneity of the parties taking part in the decision-making process. The method builds on mutual learning and consideration among the participants following a systematic approach led by a moderator. The method was tested at a workshop simulating a real-life situation. The test case studied at the workshop was the problem of identifying the best site for a low and intermediate level radioactive waste repository among three alternatives. The learning phase was the Krško Nuclear Power Plant cooling problem. The results show that the participants were able to reach agreement on the prioritisation of the alternatives and to end up with suprisingly complex and fully reasonable decision models. We believe that this was achieved particularly due to the well defined procedure that guided the decision-making process, and the ability of all participants to see the influence of their views on the decision model.     

Nutrient starvation effects on the allelochemical potency of Alexandrium tamarense (Dinophyceae)

Batch culture experiments were performed to investigate potential effects of nutrient starvation on the allelochemical potency of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense. Triplicate cultures with reduced nitrate (−N) or phosphate (−P) seed were compared to nutrient-replete (+N+P) cultures. Total depletion of the dissolved inorganic limiting nutrient, reduced cell quotas, changed mass ratios of C/N/P and reduced cell yield clearly indicate that treatment cultures at stationary phase were starved by either N or P, whereas growth cessation of +N+P cultures was probably due to carbon limitation and/or a direct effect of high pH. Pulsed addition of the limiting nutrient allowed −N and −P cultures to resume growth. Lytic activity of A. tamarense as quantified by a Rhodomonas bioassay was generally high (EC₅₀ around 100 cells mL⁻¹) and was only slightly modulated by growth phase and/or nutrient starvation. Lytic activity per cell increased with time in both +N+P and −P cultures but not −N cultures. P-starved stationary-phase cells were slightly more lytic than +N+P cultures, but this difference may be due to increased cell size and/or accumulation of extracellular compounds. In conclusion, only slight changes but no general and major increase in lytic activity in response to nutrient starvation was observed.     

Field demonstration of the combined effects of absorption and evapotranspiration on septic system drainfield capacity.

Drainfields for disposal of septic tank effluents are typically designed by considering the loss of water by either upward evapotranspiration into the atmosphere or lateral and downward absorption into the adjacent soil. While this approach is appropriate for evapotranspiration systems, absorption systems allow water loss by both mechanisms. It was proposed that, in areas where high evapotranspiration rates coincide with permeable soils, drainfield sizes could be substantially reduced by accounting for both mechanisms. A two-year field demonstration was conducted to determine appropriate design criteria for areas typical of the Texas High Plains. The study consisted of evaluating the long-term acceptance rates for three different drainfield configurations: evapotranspiration only, absorption only, and combined conditions. A second field demonstration repeated the experiments for additional observation of the combined evapotranspiration and absorption and achieved similar results as the first study. The field tests indicated that the current design loading criteria may be increased by at least a factor of two for the Texas High Plains region and other Texas areas with similar soil composition and evapotranspiration rates, while still retaining a factor of safety of two.     

Variability of catechin and 4-hydroxyacetophenone distribution in Norway spruce needles in relation to their position, age, and growing conditions

The amount of catechin and 4-hydroxyacetophenone in the methanolic extract of the Norway spruce needles at the locality Bíly Kríz (Moravian-Silesian Beskydy Mts.) was found in the range 2.8-12.1 mg g(-1) (dry weight) and 0.2-17.7 mg g(-1) (dry weight), respectively. Total amount of catechin (sum of the last three needle year-classes) is statistically higher (p<0.01) in the sparse areas compared to the dense ones and similar trends were recorded for catechin content in current and one-year-old needles. These results may support an idea about primary control of phenolic production by the incident solar radiation, which depends on the social position of the tree and canopy closure degree.     

大气污染总量控制规划智能决策支持系统的开发与研究

对大气污染总量控制规划智能决策支持系统的开发步骤和总体结构做了介绍。并描述了该系统中的知识库系统、模型库系统、数据库系统和图形库系统的设计思想,特别是对知识库的构造进行了较详细的叙述。还介绍了神经网络技术在该系统中的应用。指出大气污染总量控制规划智能决策支持系统将为大气污染总量控制提供更科学、更合理、更有效的规划方案。     

城市大气环境质量比较评价分级方法

以城市大气环境实测数据为背景,经过Box－Cox变换,选取标准正态分布的代表点,得到大气环境质量分级标准值及对应概率。数据正规化后,从多种因素和总量统计进行大气环境质量综合比较分级,按综合分级值M_ij从（0.0～1.0）均分原则,分为清洁级、尚清洁级、轻度污染级、中度污染级、重度污染级和极度污染级。     

冬季降雪过程对城市大气气态汞污染的影响

2009年降雪和非降雪期间对北京西北城区的气态总汞浓度进行了连续采样,比较了降雪期间、非降雪期间的气态总汞浓度日变化过程;降雪期间气态总汞浓度的降低和恢复过程。结果表明,降雪和非降雪期间大气气态总汞浓度的日均值有显著差异,降雪期间气态总汞的平均浓度为5．64ng·m^-3,非降雪期间的平均浓度为7．43ng·m^-3,前者约为后者的70％。降雪后约7h气态总汞浓度恢复到降雪前水平。研究中分析了气象因素（气压、风速、阵风速度、气温和相对湿度）对于气态总汞浓度的影响,结果表明：降雪期间主要受到风速（r=-0．527）和阵风速度（r=-0．574）的影响;非降雪期间主要受到风速（r=-0．691）,阵风速度（r=-0．726）和相对湿度（r=0．692）的影响,并且相对湿度的影响与风速的影响相近。降雪和非降雪期间气态总汞的日变化有所差异：非降雪期间气态总汞浓度在午夜和清晨较高,日变化趋势与相对湿度一致;降雪期间气态总汞的日变化没有明显规律。     

Prenatal diagnosis of aortic atresia by colour doppler flow mapping

A case of aortic atresia with insufficiency of mitral valve diagnosed prenatally at 33 weeks of gestation is presented. An accurate diagnosis of this fetal cardiovascular malformation was possible by application of Doppler colour flow mapping, which demonstrated (a) the absence of forward flow in the hypoplastic ascending aorta, (b) reverse flow of blood from the ductus arteriosus into the severely hypoplastic ascending aorta in the late systole, (c) pansystolic mitral valve regurgitation, and (d) absent flow across the foramen ovale as a result of premature closure of the foramen ovale.