Costs and benefits of improving wild salmon passage in a regulated river

This paper presents a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of a trade-off between salmon and hydropower production in the Ume/Vindel River, northern Sweden. A distinctive element of this analysis is that estimated changes in resource conditions are based on detailed river-specific data. A salmon population model was used to develop the scenario and a novel willingness to pay (WTP) question, which caters for uncertainty in a different manner, provided an interval estimate. Non-use values are the major contributors to the benefit (96–517 millions of Swedish kronor (MSEK)) of increasing the stock of wild salmon. Sensitivity analysis suggests that the opportunity costs in terms of lost electricity are typically higher than the estimated benefits.     

“5·12”汶川地震灾区典型区域生态环境状况影响评价

“5·12”汶川特大地震发生后。带来的植被破坏、水土流失、次生地质灾害等,给灾区生态环境造成了极大的影响。本文重点以汶川县作为典型区域,运用“3S”技术,通过对汶川县震前、震后的生态环境状况及其变化情况进行定量评价。分析“5·12”大地震对龙门山区生态环境的影响,以期为区域灾后重建提供参考。     

尾气循环技术在国内顺酐装置的应用

顺酐生产过程排放的废气中含有大量未反应原料、副产物CO和挥发性有机物(VOC)等,对其进行处理使之达标排放,回收其中可利用的物质或能量有重要意义。吐哈石化厂顺酐装置采用CONSER公司工艺技术,新增部分尾气回收生产工艺路线,回收40%的尾气中的正丁烷,实现了蒸汽分阶利用,排放的废气中SO2、NOx、颗粒物等达到GB16297-1996《大气污染物综合排放标准》中二级标准。     

Survivor needs or logistical convenience? Factors shaping decisions to deliver relief to earthquake‐affected communities,Pakistan 2005–06

In Bureaucratizing the Good Samaritan , Waters (2001) argues that bureaucratic rationality distracts humanitarian agencies from the needs of the people they are supposed to assist, in favour of other values that their institutional frameworks dictate. We test his claim by investigating the response to the Pakistan 2005 earthquake. One of us (Dittemore) worked with the United Nations Joint Logistics Centre in the theatre, managing a relief cargo shipment database. The response, known as 'Operation Winter Race', was hampered by extreme logistical challenges, but ultimately succeeded in averting a second disaster resulting from cold and starvation. We use statistical models to probe whether survivor needs significantly guided decisions to deliver relief to affected communities. Needs assessments remained incomplete and incoherent. We measure needs through proxy indicators and integrate them, on a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform, with logistics and relief delivery data. We find that, despite strong logistics effects, needs orientations were significant. However, the strength of decision factors varies between commodity types (food versus clothing and shelter versus reconstruction materials) as well as over the different phases of the response. This study confirms Thomas's observation that logistics databases are rich 'repositories of data that can be analyzed to provide post-event learning' (Thomas, 2003, p. 4). This article is an invitation for others to engage in creative humanitarian data management.     

The 2006 war and its inter-temporal economic impact on agriculture in Lebanon

The July 2006 war waged by Israel on Lebanon caused an estimated USD 1 billion of direct (financial) damage to infrastructure. However, it generated also significant indirect (economic/inter-temporal) costs. One sector that suffered considerably in this respect was agriculture, the main source of income for 30–40 per cent of Lebanese. This paper's main objective is to develop a methodology to estimate the total—direct and indirect—cost of the war to agricultural crop production, using an area of south Lebanon as a focal point. The indirect loss assessment viewed inter-temporal reductions in crop production values as the opportunity cost of not working fields due to the presence of unexploded ordnance (UXO). Various crops were evaluated for two scenarios (50 and 100 per cent damage due to UXO) over UXO-clearance periods of five and 10 years. The results indicate that any damage estimates that include only direct losses will under-estimate total losses by 80 and 87 per cent for the five- and 10-year periods, respectively.     

Seasonal and spatial variability of Po,U and Pu levels in the river catchment area assessed by application of neural-network based classification

The present study deals with the application of self-organizing maps (SOM) in order to model, classify and interpret seasonal and spatial variability of ²¹⁰Po, ²³⁸U and ^239+240Pu levels in the Vistula river basin. The data set represents concentration values for 3 alpha emitters (²¹⁰Po, ²³⁸U and ^239+240Pu) measured in surface water samples collected at 19 different sampling locations (8 in major Vistula stream while 11 in right or left Vistula tributaries) during four seasons (winter, spring, summer and autumn) in the framework of a one-year quality monitoring study. The advantages of an SOM algorithm, its classification and visualization ability for environmental data sets, are stressed. The neural-network based classification made it possible to reveal specific patterns related to both seasonal and spatial variability. In the middle and upper part of Vistula catchment as well as in the right-shore tributaries, concentrations of ²¹⁰Po and ²³⁸U during summer and winter are the lowest. Concentrations of ²¹⁰Po and ²³⁸U increase significantly during spring and autumn in the Vistula river catchment, especially in the delta of Vistula river. High concentration of anthropogenic originated ^239+240Pu indicates “site-specific” character of pollution in two large left-shore tributaries located in the middle part of the Vistula drainage area. Efficient classification of sampling locations could lead to an optimization of river radiochemical sampling networks and to a better tracing of natural and anthropogenic changes along Vistula river stream.     

Biosorption of nickel(II) from aqueous solution by Aspergillus niger: Response surface methodology and isotherm study

In the present study, the effects of biosorbent Aspergillus niger dosage, initial solution pH and initial Ni(II) concentration on the uptake of Ni(II) by NaOH pretreated biomass of A. niger from aqueous solution were investigated. Batch experiments were carried out in order to model and optimize the biosorption process. The influence of three parameters on the uptake of Ni(II) was described using a response surface methodology (RSM) as well as Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Optimum Ni(II) uptake of 4.82 mg Ni(II) g⁻¹ biomass (70.30%) was achieved at pH 6.25, biomass dosage of 2.98 g L⁻¹ and initial Ni(II) concentration of 30.00 mg L⁻¹ Ni(II). Langmuir and Freundlich were able to describe the biosorption isotherm fairly well. However, prediction of Ni(II) biosorption using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms was relatively poor in comparison with RSM approaches. The biosorption mechanism was also investigated by using Fourier transfer infrared (FT-IR) analysis of untreated, NaOH pretreated, and Ni(II) loaded A. niger biomass.     

Degradation of pentachlorobiphenyl by a sequential treatment using Pd coated iron and an aerobic bacterium (H1)

The reductive dechlorination and biodegradation of 2,2^′4,5,5^′-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB#101) was investigated in a laboratory-scale. Palladium coated iron (Pd/Fe) was used as a catalytic reductant for the chemical degradation of 2,2^′4,5,5^′-pentachlorobiphenyl, and an aerobic bacteria was used for biodegradation following the chemical reaction in this study. Dechlorination was affected by several factors such as Pd loading, initial soil pH and the amount of Pd/Fe used. The results showed that higher Pd loading, higher dosage of Pd/Fe and slightly acid condition were beneficial to the catalytic dechlorination of 2,2^′,4,5,5^′-pentachlorobiphenyl. In laboratory batch experiments, 2,2^′4,5,5^′-pentachlorobiphenyl was reduced in the presence of Pd/Fe bimetal, which was not further degraded by aerobic bacteria. 2,2^′,4-trichlorobiphenyl (PCB#17), a reduction product from 2,2^′4,5,5^′-pentachlorobiphenyl, was readily biodegraded in the presence of a aerobic bacterial strain. It is suggested that an integrated Pd/Fe catalytic reduction-aerobic biodegradation process may be a feasible option for treating PCB-contaminated soil.