Referee analyses: A better approach than data validation

Data validation, as prescribed in guidance documents provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), yields legal evidence that an analytical laboratory has performed analyses according to predetermined specifications. This validation process, because it involves only the checking of procedural documentation, provides minimal information concerning the technical validity of the data. Unfortunately, in the minds of many, the performance of such a data validation has become synonymous with technical validity. A better approach is to implement a routine program of referee analyses. That is, submit a predetermined number of samples from the project to a second laboratory. A routine program of this type provides a self-checking and self-correcting mechanism for determining whether data are technically valid. Publication No. 3874, Environmental Sciences Division, ORNL. Managed by Martin-Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. for the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-840R21400.     

20世纪中国强震与天体位置关系分析

本文全面分析了1900年至1985年发生于中国的7.0级以上大地震与天体位置的关系.分析结果表明,月回归与三天体一线等天文奇点有利于大地震的发生;本世纪93次7.0级以上大地震中68%发生于月亮轨道(白道)与赤道交角变小阶段,60%以上发生于月亮升交点黄经位于350°～210°期间.这说明月亮轨道运行至此将会是中国地震活跃期.文中还指出,各天体对地球的作用除引潮力之外,还有电磁力和宇宙辐射,而对于远离平衡态的地震区,任何微小的涨落都会被放大,从而诱发地震.     

SOCIO-ECONOMIC ACCOUNTING APPLIED TO WATER RESOURCE PLANNING1

ABSTRACT The growing social consciousness and concern with human well-being has resulted in numerous water resource use and control programs, the results of which must be measured not in the customary monetary terms, but rather in terms of social and human welfare. Interdisciplinary research offers the greatest promise of yielding fruitful results in establishing planning methodology that would result in a maximum utilization of funds available for water resource programs. Working with the various social science disciplines, accountants have begun research in social measurement thus opening the door to a new field of accountancy known as socio-economic accounting. The development of social accounting systems will improve water resource management by projecting heretofore unmeasureable social values into the management decision making process.     

安全工程本科的“工程型大安全”教学方案构建

“大安全”在安全科学技术教育界广为推崇。它的含义是指广泛适用于解决各个行业、各类组织安全问题的科学理论和方法。“大安全”是我国高等学校安全工程专业本科教育的基本目标之一 ,构建适当的课程教学方案是实现这一目标必需的途经。笔者围绕安全科学技术的研究对象———事故、研究内容———事故的发生发展规律、预防策略和救援方法 ,构建出一种安全工程专业本科的“大安全”课程教学方案。所构建的教学方案由通用于各行业的基础课、专业基础课和针对特定行业的专业课组成。方案中工程技术类课程占有主导地位 ,所以 ,可称为“工程型大安全”课程方案。统计分析表明 ,应用该方案所培养的学生就业面宽广 ,这种类型的课程教学方案符合市场需求     

Education for Sustainable Development: The Johannesburg Summit and Beyond

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg during 26 August and 4 September 2002, was a truly remarkable event, not least because it identified and committed the world community to what has to be done to realise Agenda 21 objectives. Discussion begins with the "means of implementation" of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPI). Education for, and raising awareness of, sustainable development are the key commitments in the "means of implementation". The issues central to these commitments are discussed. The crucial role of moral philosophy in education for sustainable development is then discussed. Defining the "problem" as lack of progress (in fact negative progress between Rio and Johannesburg) towards global sustainable development, a cause–effect relationship of the "problem" is developed based on a systematic and logical analysis. It shows that the "cause" is West's profoundly materialistic, environment-degrading and exploitative attitude and activities to satisfy grossly unsustainable, hedonistic and insatiably avaricious Western life-styles – life-styles that are held up by the West as "ideal" fruits of economic "development" to be aspired by all. The "effects" are pollution of air, water and soil; mounting loss of biodiversity, ecosystems and species; relentlessly widening north–south divide, etc. It is argued that while science and technology can address some of the "effects", they cannot address the "cause". Only moral philosophy can by fundamentally re-orienting moral values genuinely to respect nature and the environment. Based on sound and tested principles of Educational Psychology, a proposal is then made for including moral philosophy in the formal curricula (content and pedagogy) of primary, secondary and higher education for instilling in children and young people genuinely environment-respecting moral values. To this end a generic syllabus for the secondary level is proposed. Finally, it is argued that if the scientific community really believes that science or technology alone can radically change the pervasive environment-degrading moral values to those that genuinely respect the environment, thus paving the way to real global sustainability, then it must demonstrate how this could be done and explain why, despite their abundant science and technology, the developed nations are the biggest polluters and consumers with grossly unsustainable life-styles. Certainly, examples would be much more convincing than rhetoric or tired old clichés about how science and technology alone could deliver global sustainable development.     

A Profile and Management of the US Army's underground storage tanks

The US Army owns more than 10,000 underground storage tanks (USTs), many of which are old and may be leaking. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 required tank owners to collect and report data on them by May 1986. In order to manage the large amounts of information on its USTs, the Army developed a microcomputer-based data base system. The data base system is user friendly and allows the user to store, organize, and manipulate the UST data. A leak potential index (LPI) was also developed and calculated for each of the Army's USTs. The LPI is used to prioritize USTs so that those with higher LPIs can be monitored closely. A characteristic profile of Army USTs according to construction material, capacity, age, content, and LPI is presented in this paper.The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the US Department of the Army, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.     

CULTURAL EVOLUTION AND WATER MANAGEMENT IN THE SALINAS RIVER VALLEY1

ABSTRACT: This article reports the findings of a case study of a major California water management district's effort to change its management approach. The following key findings and factors have influenced the Salinas basin management plan (BMP) and its progress: (1) the Salinas Valley is an economy dominated by highly sophisticated irrigated agriculture dependent on ground water; (2) a persistent pattern of agricultural overdraft of ground water has hurt growers primarily in the north end of the valley via induced saline intrusion of irrigation wells; (3) a complex set of water institutions, property and water rights, and land lease practices offer little incentive for good stewardship of land and water; and (4) the BMP approach initially may have intensified tension among growers and between growers and other water user groups. Water rules and practices in the Salinas Valley and Monterey County have evolved through a long historical process of adaptations. Therefore, any significant changes in local water use practices need to be understood in terms of cultural change, that is, changes in deeply held values, beliefs, and assumptions. We believe the BMP and the MCWRA are succeeding when evaluated from this evolutionary perspective. The fact that both still exist relatively intact testifies that they are working, albeit slowly.     

关于中国塔里木河流域若干问题的辨识

塔里木河流域的水量及水质变化 ,生态环境质量的优劣 ,生态需水量的估算、整治目标的确定等问题 ,一直是该流域资源环境和社会经济的核心问题。对其近 40年来水文观测资料的时间序列进行分析 ,三源流区的水资源量逐年递增 2× 1 0 7m3,但干流上游阿拉尔来水量每年递减 3× 1 0 7m3。水质的劣变特征亦较明显。通过构建生态脆弱性指数 ,定量评价流域生态环境质量表明 ,干流下游已属于生态环境严重受损区。用潜水蒸发和定额法的原理估算植被耗水 ,提出了维护干流区生态环境在不同目标年的生态需水量。认为应当在水资源承载力和环境容量的阈限内 ,合理确定科学的保护方案     

道路交通安全知识提取方法及其递进式模型的研究

道路交通数据资源日益膨胀和复杂化 ,已经远远超出了人脑的记忆和分析能力。面对道路交通的海量数据 ,传统运用的DBMS和OLTP技术 ,已无法发现隐藏在数据背后的关系、规则和发展趋势等新的内容、知识和信息。因此 ,建立基于DMKD的智能道路交通安全决策支持系统是相关部门急需解决的重大课题。笔者重点介绍了数据挖掘、知识发现的概念 ,提出了基于DW +OLAP +DMKD的道路交通安全决策支持系统 ,通过道路交通系统的要素分析 ,介绍了一种面向属性的粗糙集方法提取规则 ,并阐述了一种递进式规则评价提炼过程。     

环境政策法律的经济分析和程序设计

本文对环境政策法律经济分析的对象、目的、作用机制进行了分析,对环境政策法律经济影响经济分析的角度、内容和方法进行了研究.其中包括供给-需求和产业结构角度的分析评价,以及环境政策法律经济影响的分析方法.给出了环境政策法律经济分析程序设计的基本思路.