Voluntary urban climate programmes: should city governments be involved and,if so,how?

It has been proposed that voluntary urban climate programmes overcome shortfalls in mandatory, top-down, state-led government interventions to address climate change risks. Such programmes seek commitments from households and firms to improve their environmental sustainability, but do not have the force of law. City governments are actively developing and implementing such programmes, seeking improved and accelerated urban climate action. There is little evidence, however, of whether their involvement positively affects voluntary programme performance. This article presents qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of 26 voluntary programmes from Australia, the Netherlands and the US, seeking to understand whether, and if so how, city governments affect the performance of voluntary urban climate programmes. The results will help to inform city governments about the roles they may play in urban climate governance.     

多层螺旋雾幕技术的喷雾模拟及降尘试验研究

为了解决掘进工作面传统喷雾除尘无法有效抑制粉尘扩散的问题,提出了一种将气动喷嘴呈螺旋状布置的多层螺旋雾幕除尘方法。采用k-ω湍流模型与K-H液滴破碎模型,通过Comsol多物理场耦合数值模拟,得出了多层螺旋雾幕速度场分布和粒子轨迹的变化规律,结合模拟结果搭建试验平台,并将多层螺旋雾幕与传统喷雾的除尘效果进行对比分析。以2层雾幕为例的模拟结果显示,喷雾2 s时就会形成明显的2层螺旋状雾幕,10 s后旋转水雾充满整个模拟区域,并且雾滴粒径较传统喷雾更小。试验表明多层螺旋雾幕的除尘效果明显强于自然降尘与传统喷雾,3 min后可将浓度470 mg/m3左右的粉尘降到4 mg/m3以下。     

On the origins of informal hierarchy: The interactive role of formal leadership and task complexity

Informal hierarchies are a common and important feature of many groups, yet we know little about the antecedent conditions that determine the strength of such hierarchies. Building on theory that has depicted hierarchy as a mechanism for reducing uncertainty and creating structure, we posit that informal hierarchies emerge most strongly in situations that are ambiguous, ill‐defined, and unstructured. Three independent studies confirm this notion, demonstrating that groups develop particularly strong informal hierarchies in situations characterized by both a lack of strong formal leadership and high task complexity. These findings support the theoretical notion that formal and informal hierarchies are closely related, but only under conditions of high task complexity in which the structuring functions of hierarchies are most crucial.     

乘用车内空气质量健康风险评估

为研究我国乘用车内空气的污染现状,采用二次热解析-毛细管气相色谱/质谱联用及高效液相色谱法,测定了16个品牌的市售新车车内空气中BTEX(苯、甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯)、苯乙烯、甲醛、乙醛和丙烯醛等8种污染物质量浓度,并对其健康风险进行了评估. 结果表明:8种污染物的质量浓度除乙醛外均低于GB/T 27630—2011《乘用车内空气质量评价指南》中的标准限值,ρ(苯)、ρ(甲苯)、ρ(乙苯)、ρ(二甲苯)、ρ(苯乙烯)、ρ(甲醛)、ρ(乙醛)和ρ(丙烯醛)范围分别为3.00～73.00、69.00～798.00、18.00～469.75、46.00～1 296.42、12.00～46.00、19.00～72.00、43.29～323.00和5.20～7.60 μg/m3. 致癌物质苯、甲醛和甲苯的质量浓度最高值分别为GB/T 27630—2011各自标准限值的66.36%、72.00%和72.55%;二甲苯质量浓度点离散程度较小,分布集中,其平均值为GB/T 27630—2011标准限值(1 500 μg/m3)的11.86%;ρ(乙苯)最大值为其标准限值的1/3左右;而ρ(苯乙烯)和ρ(丙烯醛)远低于各自标准限值. ρ(苯)和ρ(甲醛)对驾乘人员的健康均可能造成致癌风险. 对于男性职业司机,苯和甲醛平均浓度的致癌风险分别为US EPA(美国国家环境保护局)规定的致癌风险基准值(1×10-6)的18.86和60.67倍,而二者对女性职业司机的致癌风险仅比男性降低了12.53%;对于男性普通驾乘人员,苯和甲醛平均浓度的致癌风险分别为基准值的2.83和9.10倍,女性略低于男性. 二甲苯平均浓度的非致癌风险是US EPA规定的基准HI(非致癌风险指数,取1)的1.78倍. 研究表明,为降低车内空气中有害物质对车内乘员的健康危害,需要采用环保的内饰材料,改善车内空气质量.      

Hepatitis E Virus in Farmed Rabbits,Wild Rabbits and Petting Farm Rabbits in the Netherlands

Rabbits have been suggested as a zoonotic source of Hepatitis E virus. Phylogenetic analysis of HEV isolates from farmed, wild and pet rabbits in the Netherlands (23, 0, and 60 % respectively) showed them to be grouped amongst published rabbit HEV sequences and distinct from most human isolates. Dutch rabbits are unlikely to be a zoonotic source.     

Trade-offs and synergies in joint knowledge creation for coastal management: insights from ecology-oriented sand nourishment in the Netherlands

In order to successfully inform environmental management, environmental research needs to balance legitimacy, credibility, and salience. This paper aims to identify trade-offs and synergies between these three attributes in collaborative research for environmental management, and draws lessons for organizing such research. Empirically, it draws on a study of a research program on the ecological effects of coastal protection through sand nourishment. Our findings suggest that the legitimacy and salience of knowledge creation, particularly in an interactive governance context, are complementary. At the same time, we found trade-offs between practical relevance and fundamental knowledge creation, as well as between issue diversity and the depth and quality of scientific inquiry. Balancing the legitimacy, credibility, and salience of knowledge may be enabled by interactive knowledge creation involving policy-makers, experts and stakeholders. We conclude that successful management-oriented environmental research, particularly in the case of wicked problems, requires both a careful design of arrangements for stakeholder engagement, and well- established linkages to broader regulatory and institutional contexts.     

Development of new dunes in the Dutch Delta: nature compensation and ‘building with nature’

A new dune area was constructed by beach and foreshore nourishments along the Delfland Coast in the southwestern Netherlands. The new area is intended to be a compensation for losses of existing high quality dunes in nearby areas, due to the use/construction of Maasvlakte 2, the new harbour extension of Rotterdam opening in 2013. The target habitats for compensation include dry grey dunes and moist dune valley grassland. Due to the habitat type, the nourished material had to have a special character. The nourishment was carried out according to a special design and initial development of the new area had to follow certain pathways. In order to meet the compensation requirements in time. Careful monitoring is done to assess whether development of the new habitat is taking place in the direction of the desired target habitats. This paper reports on the construction of the new area and on the first years of development and monitoring. The monitoring mainly concerns development of the abiotic landscape elements, geomorphology, groundwater and soils. The lessons learned from this area are discussed in the light of the development of other recent young nature areas in the sandy Dutch delta coast. This gives new insights for coastal management in general in the context of building with nature.     

The role of automated feedback in training and retaining biological recorders for citizen science

The rapid rise of citizen science, with lay people forming often extensive biodiversity sensor networks, is seen as a solution to the mismatch between data demand and supply while simultaneously engaging citizens with environmental topics. However, citizen science recording schemes require careful consideration of how to motivate, train, and retain volunteers. We evaluated a novel computing science framework that allowed for the automated generation of feedback to citizen scientists using natural language generation (NLG) technology. We worked with a photo‐based citizen science program in which users also volunteer species identification aided by an online key. Feedback is provided after photo (and identification) submission and is aimed to improve volunteer species identification skills and to enhance volunteer experience and retention. To assess the utility of NLG feedback, we conducted two experiments with novices to assess short‐term (single session) and longer‐term (5 sessions in 2 months) learning, respectively. Participants identified a specimen in a series of photos. One group received only the correct answer after each identification, and the other group received the correct answer and NLG feedback explaining reasons for misidentification and highlighting key features that facilitate correct identification. We then developed an identification training tool with NLG feedback as part of the citizen science program BeeWatch and analyzed learning by users. Finally, we implemented NLG feedback in the live program and evaluated this by randomly allocating all BeeWatch users to treatment groups that received different types of feedback upon identification submission. After 6 months separate surveys were sent out to assess whether views on the citizen science program and its feedback differed among the groups. Identification accuracy and retention of novices were higher for those who received automated feedback than for those who received only confirmation of the correct identification without explanation. The value of NLG feedback in the live program, captured through questionnaires and evaluation of the online photo‐based training tool, likewise showed that the automated generation of informative feedback fostered learning and volunteer engagement and thus paves the way for productive and long‐lived citizen science projects.