Interpreting major industrial landscapes: Social follow-up on meanings, the case of two aluminium smelters, Alcan (Alma, Canada) and Pechiney (Dunkirk, France)

Landscape is becoming an object of growing social concern and, as such, an object of mediation between major industrial producers and local communities. The question of the capacity of environmental assessment to address this issue is thus raised. Until now, landscape studies have focused on visual aspects, although subjective dimensions such as perceptions and meanings have been recognised. The research in this article concerns the subjective dimensions, and is presented with a view to further the understanding of the process of the social interpretation of landscape as it relates to heavy industrial sites. Within a socioconstructivist perspective, two case studies (a longitudinal follow-up and an ex-post) of two aluminum smelters, one in Alma (Quebec, Canada) and the other in Dunkirk (France) were conducted. The results show that nearby residents' interpretations of landscape varied according to three sets of factors related to 1) the dynamics of regional development and the historical place of industry in the community, 2) the relationship between residents and the industry and local governance capacities, and 3) the social impacts experienced. To conclude, three ways of using qualitative methodologies for social and environmental follow-up in a socioconstructivist approach to landscape are proposed.     

关中地区滑坡 泥石流灾害遥感调查研究及其方法探讨

本文通过利用综合遥感技术对陕西省关中地区滑坡、泥石流灾害的重点研究,总结了该地区滑坡、泥石流灾害的分布特征与发生规律,并分析其主要诱发因素,建立滑坡、泥石流的航、卫片影像特征和解译标志。在此基础上,我们将以关中地区为例,介绍利用综合遥感技术调查滑坡、泥石流灾害的工作方法和成果。     

响应面法优化一株链霉菌对偶氮染料AR30的降解脱色条件

以一株对偶氮染料红30(AR30)具有较强降解脱色作用的菌株Streptomyces sp.FX649为研究对象,在单因素实验基础上,选择染料初始浓度、培养时间、pH与培养温度为主要因素,采用Box-Benhnken组合实验和响应面分析法对降解条件进行了精确优化.经实验修正,获得了最佳降解脱色条件,即在染料浓度110 mg.L-1、培养时间36 h、pH 7.3与培养温度31.3℃时该菌对染料AR30的降解脱色率为95.1%.     

制备钙钛矿催化剂LaNiO3用于染料废水的降解脱色

为改善普通石墨电极的电催化性能,将以溶胶-凝胶法合成的钙钛矿氧化物LaNiO3混合其它原料做成气体扩散电极,用于电化学降解活性艳红X-3B,以脱色率来考核催化剂的氧还原活性.采用星点设计-效应面曲线法对催化剂制备工艺进行了优化,得出最佳工艺参数为:柠檬酸含量为金属离子物质的量的1.54倍,pH值为9.94,焙烧温度为824.39℃.采用X射线衍射(XRD)、动电位扫描等检测分析方法对所制备的催化剂进行表征和分析.结果表明,制备的催化剂晶相纯净、晶型完整、衍射峰强度较高,是较完整的钙钛矿结构;相比于普通石墨电极,掺杂催化剂的气体扩散电极极化阻力高,氧还原性能良好,有利于有机物的降解.     

Zone planning régimes

Recent discussion of Enterprise Zones in England has been concerned with attributing development to the financial package of incentives operating, rather than the simplified planning régime, the author reconsiders the question of the significance of the new forms of planning procedure and suggests that, in the long term, the experiment will have lasting significance for the planning system itself.     

A better future for the uplands — a planning critique

The Countryside Commission's report A Better Future for the Uplands puts forward a new strategy for public intervention in the uplands of England and Wales. The aim of the report is to integrate rural policies and to promote higher environmental priorities in rural areas. This paper considers the degree to which the report is successful in planning to achieve these ends. The paper is specifically concerned with the planning methodology on which the report is based. The paper argues for an approach to rural planning which permits the consideration of more radical solutions to rural problems, along with the application of a more systematic planning methodology, in order to assist in the choice of an appropriate direction for planned change.     

Towards a systematic approach of effect prediction: A handbook as guide and aid for environmental prediction. A review

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is based on the results of effect prediction. In general, there is much diversity in the expertise in the field of environmental prediction between the different categories of actors involved in EIA. In practice it became obvious in The Netherlands that the accessibility and comprehensibility of existing relevant information was insufficient. For improvement, a series of systematic handbooks on effect prediction, useful for all categories of actors, has been developed in The Netherlands. In this way, the selection of effect prediction methods to be used in concrete circumstances is improved and speeded up for all parties involved in environmental prediction. After a discussion of the purpose of the handbook, the realization and structure of the series are presented. Finally, the use and (potential) benefits of the handbooks for environmental management are indicated.     

Integrated environmental index for application in land-use zoning

This paper describes the development of an integrated environmental index that may serve as a representation of the general environmental quality at a certain location. This index is meant to be used by local administrators to strike a balance between the development of industrial activities and the protection of sensitive land-uses (housing). The approach used to arrive at this index, based on health considerations, is described, detailing the different steps in the construction of the index: identification, assessment, summation, valuation and aggregation. The index combines environmental quality information concerning noise, odor, air pollution, and risk of industrial calamities. The resulting integrated environmental index is illustrated using data of a pilot project.     

Effects of passengers on bus driver celeration behavior and incident prediction

PROBLEM: Driver celeration (speed change) behavior of bus drivers has previously been found to predict their traffic incident involvement, but it has also been ascertained that the level of celeration is influenced by the number of passengers carried as well as other traffic density variables. This means that the individual level of celeration is not as well estimated as could be the case. Another hypothesized influence of the number of passengers is that of differential quality of measurements, where high passenger density circumstances are supposed to yield better estimates of the individual driver component of celeration behavior. METHOD: Comparisons were made between different variants of the celeration as predictor of traffic incidents of bus drivers. The number of bus passengers was held constant, and cases identified by their number of passengers per kilometer during measurement were excluded (in 12 samples of repeated measurements). RESULTS: After holding passengers constant, the correlations between celeration behavior and incident record increased very slightly. Also, the selective prediction of incident record of those drivers who had had many passengers when measured increased the correlations even more. CONCLUSIONS: The influence of traffic density variables like the number of passengers have little direct influence on the predictive power of celeration behavior, despite the impact upon absolute celeration level. Selective prediction on the other hand increased correlations substantially. This unusual effect was probably due to how the individual propensity for high or low celeration driving was affected by the number of stops made and general traffic density; differences between drivers in this respect were probably enhanced by the denser traffic, thus creating a better estimate of the theoretical celeration behavior parameter C. The new concept of selective prediction was discussed in terms of making estimates of the systematic differences in quality of the individual driver data.     

A reporting guide for studies on individual differences in traffic safety

Problem

Studies on individual differences in traffic safety report differently on their methodologies, and use different statistics, and these are therefore difficult to compare and meta-analyze.

Method

Based upon a previous, extensive review and meta-analysis of the traffic safety literature, several recommendations are made about what features of the methodology of studies on individual differences (including evaluations) in safety need to be reported to facilitate interpretation and meta-analysis. Similarly, some basic types of statistical values are recommended.

Impact on Industry

The accumulation of knowledge about individual differences in traffic safety would be facilitated if scientific authors and journals adhered to these guidelines.